The Fight against Latnok
by ST289
Summary: Last chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys I just re-arranged by fanfic by splitting it into like one chapter per page. For those of you who just started reading I'm new to writing fanfiction and I'd really appreciate it if you would review and give me advice on what to improve so I could become a better writer and entertain you guys with a better story.**

Chapter 1

"Grace Kingsley," Jessi explained to a clearly confused Amanda. "It says here that she's Kyle's biological mother!"

Amanda didn't understand. "Do you know her?" she asked.

"No but Kyle and I are pretty sure that she's Cassidy's mother." Jessi said.

"So that means …" Amanda summed it up, "Kyle and Cassidy are brothers."

"I can't believe he's related to that murderer." Jessi hissed.

"Murderer?" Amanda asked puzzled. "Are we talking about the same Cassidy? The British guy?"

"Yes him," Jessi replied with hate in her voice.

"Well how's he a murderer?" Amanda asked totally unaware of what happened to Sarah.

Jessi felt extremely sad just thinking about it. Amanda watched Jessi's face as she very obviously tried to hold back the tears. "Jessi," she said consolingly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Now let's get all the files and copy this data and go back home." As soon as they copied everything Nate had on his computer, Jessi used her strength to smash the computer and destroy the hard drive totally freaking out Amanda.

As they walked down the stairs Amanda had a question for Jessi. "Hey Jessi? How did you get here so fast. I mean Nate interrogated me for maybe 10 minutes before he called Cassidy and you showed up like a minute after that. But it takes me around 25 minutes to drive here."

"I drove really fast," Jessi simply said.

"But to get here that fast you'd have to be doing on average 150 mph." Amanda replied.

"I know," Jessi said like it was no big deal. What she didn't tell Amanda was that she also used her abilities to manipulate the electric current in the traffic lights so she could get all greens.

Amanda rolled her eyes and said "Jessi most cars on the road can't even go that fast. Especially the cars that Steven and Nicole drive"

"That one can though," Jessi said pointing as soon as she and Amanda walked out of the building.

Amanda stared for a good ten seconds before she burst out laughing. Parked right on the lawn the door open and the engine still running was Josh's car.

"I made some improvements to it," Jessi explained.

"Well why did you park it right on the lawn?" Amanda asked while getting in.

Jessi simply answered "There was no time to find a parking spot. Or take the stairs. So I left the car here on the lawn and jumped into that window up there which was open at the time. Then I just ran out of that person's room into the hallway until I found Nate's dorm number."

"Ummm…right," Amanda said. Jessi was clearly messing with her and it annoyed her. But then again she had just seen Jessi break down a door, hold up a big man by the throat with one hand, and destroy a computer with her bare hands. Maybe she could jump into a second story window. "You really did that?" she asked her.

"Yeah," Jessi said.

Not sure whether to believe her or not Amanda tried to strike up a conversation, "Well believe it or not I actually saw someone jump down from a two story house without getting hurt at all," she said.

"Was it Kyle?" Jessi asked her.

"How did you know?"

"Kyle and I can do a lot of the same stuff," Jessi replied.

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked very curious.

"I think Kyle would want to tell you all this himself," Jessi said simply ending the conversation. Neither one of them said anything more for the rest of the ride.

Meanwhile back in the Trager house…"I'm your brother…" Cassidy managed to choke out.

Kyle was shocked. He thought about it for a split second. That's all the time he needed for his highly developed brain to process it. It was definitely feasible that Grace Kingsley could be his genetic mother. Of course she didn't give birth to him but just like Jessi was created from Sarah's and Brian Taylor's DNA he could have been created from Adam and Grace's. But what did it matter anyway? As far as Kyle was concerned he only had one true brother and that was Josh Trager. Cassidy and him might have shared some genes but they were nothing alike. Cassidy had threatened to hurt Amanda, the Tragers, and Jessi until she wished she really had died… not to mention he actually killed Jessi's mother and caused her a great deal of pain. No the hell with genetics he would never consider Cassidy his brother.

"Even if you are, it doesn't change anything," Kyle said as he tightened his grip on Cassidy's throat. "You're not going to hurt anyone ever again…"

"Kyle wait!" Kyle turned around to see Jessi and Amanda standing behind him. In all his rage he hadn't even heard their heartbeats.

"Kyle please, you're not like him don't stoop to his level no matter what he said he would do!" Amanda pleaded with him.

Jessi pondered the scene in front of her. Just a few hours ago she wanted to do the same thing to Cassidy. Ever since she found out that he killed Sarah she had dreams of grabbing him by the throat exactly how Kyle was holding him now, exactly how she held that camper…NO! _I can't this happen_, she realized,_ I can't let him do this to himself_. "Kyle listen to me, no matter how much I want him to die, no matter how much I want to kill him myself, I can't let you do this. Once you kill someone you can't go back. It will haunt you for a very long time trust me I know. You don't want to do this."

"But what about Sarah?" Kyle asked stunned. _If anyone should be supporting this it should be Jessi. Cassidy killed her mother before she barely got a chance to get to know her, _Kyle thought to himself.

Jessi swallowed hard. Someday, she promised herself, she would deal with Cassidy and get her revenge. But not now and not here, definitely not with Kyle around. Jessi felt incredibly guilty that somehow she had been a bad influence on Kyle. The Kyle she was used to would never have came that close to killing someone. "I know what he did. But Kyle you killing him is not going to bring her back. And at first I thought at least it would make me feel better but now I don't think it will." Jessi lied to him. She didn't want to corrupt him anymore. She didn't want to ruin his innocence.

Amanda didn't want Kyle to turn into a killer either. She put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Two wrongs never make a right Kyle. Whatever he's said or done killing him is not the answer. Let's call the cops, let them deal with him. Please…"

Kyle let go of Cassidy who started gasping for air as he was allowed to breathe again. Jessi immediately punched him in the face and broke his jaw.

Kyle then called the cops and Cassidy was arrested for breaking and entering. Kyle wished there was some way he could prove to them that he was also a murderer but the only evidence was in Jessi's head. Unfortunately Cassidy would get away with that heinous crime. He would serve a much shorter punishment than what he deserved. The Tragers then came home extremely worried Kyle had already called them up on and explained to them that his text message to meet at The Rack was actually Cassidy and everything that happened afterwards. But of course he didn't tell them that Cassidy had threatened to hurt and kill them, he didn't want to worry them.

"Oh my god Kyle, Jessi, are you guys alright?" Nicole asked frantically while hugging them as the rest of the Tragers ran inside the house. They all froze when they saw the patio doors.

"Dude…what the hell happened here?" Josh finally asked. Kyle looked down embarrassed and answered "I punched him… and he went through the door. I'll buy a new one."

"Wait a minute, you actually hit someone?" Lori asked astonished. It seemed that even Kyle had limits. "_You _actually hit somebody?"

"And he went flying through the patio doors!" Josh said with a big smile on his face. "Bro you've earned major cool points for this. You were cool before but now…"

"Well I knocked out Nate and saved Amanda," Jessi chimed in. She saw how impressed Josh and Lori were with Kyle's act of violence and wanted to impress them herself.

Amanda sighed and shook her head at what she saw as Jessi being immature. But Kyle smiled. Jessi was like a little kid who loved being the center of attention. He knew it was because she was neglected for most of her short life by her previous guardians Emily and Brian who wanted to use her for their own purposes. He remembered how she desperately tried to impress her classmates with all those stunts… _She shouldn't care so much what other people think about her_, he thought to himself.

But unlike Josh and Lori, Nicole was most certainly not impressed. Of course she understood that Kyle had to defend himself. But still she felt sad. Finally it had happened. Kyle lost his child like innocence. He was lying, breaking rules, and now finally he committed his first act of violence.

"Thank god this is all finally over," she said. "Maybe now we can finally go back to being a normal family again."

"Yeah" Steven agreed, "we've had enough adventures for a lifetime in these past two years. I'm ready for things to get boring again," he said with a smile.

Josh shook his head and said "Uh…I don't think that's ever going to happen with two pod-children living in our house. But still it would be nice to know that there's no more guys out there who have beef with Kyle. I mean first there was Zyzzyx, then Madacorp, then Latnok…you got anymore enemies we should know about buddy?"

Kyle was quiet for a few seconds and then he said "Latnok is still around and so is Grace Kingsley. I don't know if she's going to be a problem."

"Bro I'm telling you," Josh said excitedly, "Just get your pal, Tom Foss, to assassinate them! I mean you have an ex special forces guy as your body guard. Why don't you just take the leash off and let him do what he's trained to do? Latnok is nothing more than a secret society of super nerds. They're no match for him!"

Kyle smiled. Josh always provided the comic relief in these kinds of tense situations.


	2. Chapter 2

**In this chapter Kyle tells Amanda everything.**

Chapter 2

Kyle, Jessi, and Amanda went into Kyle's room. "Well this has been an interesting night," Amanda said trying to break the silence.

"Jessi could you please let me and Amanda talk alone for a second?" Kyle asked her gently.

Jessi immediately got a worried expression on her face. She didn't want to lose Kyle after he had finally developed feelings for her. And Amanda said she was going to ask him back… But respecting his wishes she exited the room. _Too bad_ _Kyle only told me leave. He didn't say anything about not listening in,_ she thought.

Kyle looked at Amanda and took a deep breath. "Amanda I think it's time you know the truth about myself."

Amanda had been waiting so long for this moment and now Kyle was finally opening up to her. She smiled and held his hand and said "I'm listening."

"Amanda," Kyle began, "Around 50 years ago a secret group of scientists set out to improve human intelligence. Their theory was that if a human baby spent more time in gestation then its brain would become more developed. So they tried to artificially increase the gestation time of pregnant women who volunteered for the experiment. Unfortunately none of these mothers survived giving birth. And only two of the babies survived. One of them was my father Adam Baylin." Amanda had heard Kyle talk about Adam Baylin before. Kyle waited for everything he said to sink in. When she said "Go on," he continued with his story.

"Adam grew up to become the most intelligent man on earth. He wanted to continue the experiment and make a child that was even more developed than him. He created a company called Zyzzyx. You remember that place in the woods with all the underground tunnels we got lost in?" he asked.

"The place where you found that box," Amanda said remembering.

Kyle nodded "That used to be their facility. Adam didn't want to harm anymore mothers. So invented a tank in which he could grow a human baby and he invented a special type of fluid that could keep the baby nourished. So there was no need for an umbilical cord."

"And that's why you don't have a belly button," Amanda finished. "You're the baby he grew in the tank, aren't you?" she asked him.

"Yes but instead of letting me out of the tank, his company decided that it would be more profitable to keep me in there and use my brain's processing abilities like I was some kind of computer. When Adam protested they tried to kill him so he went into hiding. And I spent 16 years of my life inside the tank."

Amanda gasped. "That's horrible…spending your whole life cooped up in a tank like that…if you don't mind me asking, what was it like?"

"I don't know," Kyle answered truthfully. "I wasn't really awake. I was in some kind of a coma. But I guess eventually I developed some sort of awareness because I stopped cooperating with them. Zyzzyx was planning something dangerous for the world. Apparently I stopped cooperating and I stole all their data from their computers and stored it in my brain."

"What were they planning?" Amanda asked.

Kyle told her "I don't know. I wasn't really conscious when I was in the pod. I don't remember any of this. The reason I know all this is because my brain stole all the data from their security camera's as well. So I saw everything that happened at my last few days at Zyzzyx. The data is still stored in my brain like a compressed file in a computer. I have no idea what's inside of it. I don't think I want to know. I just want it to be out of the wrong hands." He then continued with the story. "After I stole all of Zyzzyx data they decided to kill me. But Adam Baylin had one of their security guards working for him. His name is Tom Foss. He saved me. A few hours later I woke up in the woods. And that was when my life started."

There was a long awkward pause. Finally Amanda broke the silence and said "Kyle if I hadn't seen you do all those amazing things I would truly think you were insane right about now. That's quite a story. Obviously the Trager's know about it. But why didn't you tell me?"

Kyle answered her. "Amanda I was afraid you would no longer like me if you found out."

Amanda smiled. "Kyle, it doesn't matter where you're from. It matters who you are. And you are the most kind and caring person I have ever known in my life."

Kyle felt the butterflies in his stomach. _I still can't figure out what if means to feel butterflies with one person and electricity with another_ he thought and then said, "Oh yeah Jessi," Kyle said suddenly remembering her. "She's another one like me. She was created by Zyzzyx after me."

Amanda wasn't surprised. "I figured as much. An hour ago she jumped into somebody's dorm through a window on the second floor. She then broke down Nate's door and just lifted him off the ground with one hand. And she's really smart like you. But when did she come out of the pod?" she asked him.

"Last summer Zyzzyx finally tracked down Adam Baylin and tried to assassinate him. Foss then firebombed the entire facility for revenge. By doing so he accidentally released Jessi."

"Wait a minute," Amanda interrupted. Did you say fire bombed?!"

"Yeah he's ex-special forces. He knows a lot about explosives." Kyle replied.

"Oh…" Amanda really didn't no what to say now. Her head was spinning her mind was trying to take in everything Kyle just told her. "So Jessi is just like you…so she doesn't have a belly button either?" Amanda asked.

Kyle shook his head. "That day when you saw us touching each other's bellies that's when we both found out how similar we were. There was nothing sexual about it."

Amanda felt silly. "I never understood why you two were so close but now I know."

"We can sense each other's presence and read each other's minds when we touch," Kyle said.

"You can? And you can't do that with anyone else?" Amanda asked amazed.

"No…although I can hear people's heartbeats when they're near."

"So…you can hear my heart beating right now?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah" Kyle replied casually.

"That's just….wow…" Amanda really had no idea what to say to that. "But I still have some questions."

"Sure I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability." Kyle said. It felt good coming clean.

"What happened to me on prom night?"

"Amanda, remember I told you there were people who would try to use those close to me to get to me?"

Amanda nodded.

"Well they kidnapped you to test me. Me and Jessi managed to find you and rescue you."

"But how come I don't remember any of this" she asked confused and afraid. The thought that she had been kidnapped scared the hell out of her.

"They planted a device in the back of your head," he answered like it was completely normal. "It was the reason for all your headaches and why you kept messing up on your recital."

Amanda was disgusted "They put something in my head?!"

"Yes" Kyle replied. "Apparently it was supposed to dissolve by itself a few weeks after they put it in but I guess it was taking a bit longer. So Jessi and I decided that I could dissolve it myself by applying an electrical current to your head. The best way to do that without you noticing was by kissing you. But I had no idea how much voltage to use. If I accidentally applied too much it would have killed you. So Jessi suggested I practice on her…"

"That's your excuse for kissing Jessi?" Amanda asked angrily.

Kyle looked sad "But…it's the…truth," he said.

Amanda sighed and said "I'm sorry. I guess with everything else you've told me tonight I guess I can believe that as well. Plus I can totally picture Jessi doing something like that."

Kyle then answered the rest of Amanda's questions about Jessi, Madacorp, Latnok, Sarah, and both his and Jessi's abilities.

"I understand if this is all a lot to take in. You should go home and get some rest. You've had a long night. I'll answer any other questions tomorrow" Kyle told her.

"Okay I'll see you later then," Amanda said and she left. As she walked out of the door she saw Jessi just standing in the hallway. "Were you listening to us?" she asked angrily.

"Maybe I was," Jessi replied smugly. "You would do the same thing if you could."

"I would not!" Amanda shot back. "I actually respect people's privacy. I could have read all those files on Kyle when I was in Nate's room but I didn't." She rolled her eyes she didn't want to start this all over again. "Look Jessi I'm sorry. I didn't realize what a connection you and Kyle have. But still he was my boyfriend. You should have respected that."

Jessi looked down and didn't say anything.

"I'm going to ask him back tomorrow morning like I said, just thought you should know," Amanda continued. She then went home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jessi was furious. She just saved Amanda's pretty little face from being beaten by Nate. And Amanda acted so nice to Jessi an hour ago! So why was she doing this to her? Her anger caused the lights in the house to flicker. Why couldn't Amanda just leave her and Kyle alone? Why did she have to ask him to come back to her now when he was just developing feelings for her? All the furniture in the house began to vibrate. Jessi took a deep breath and used all her energy and did something that neither she nor Kyle ever did before. "B…B…BITCH!" she yelled at the top of her voice.

She turned around and saw a very confused Josh. "Uh…okay… just came down to check why the lights were going crazy and everything was shaking…" he said.

"Sorry…" she mumbled and quickly walked towards Kyle's room very embarrassed that everyone in the house had heard her.

"What was that about?" Kyle asked her as soon as she came in and closed the door.

"Nothing it's just…Amanda…never mind," Jessi wanted to change the subject. "So…now that you know who you're mother is, are you going to try to find her?" she asked.

"No," Kyle replied being honest. He didn't feel the slightest need to do that. "She may be related to me but it was Nicole who adopted me and cared for me. Nicole's my real mother," he said.

Jessi understood. She was the biological daughter of Brian Taylor but he was never much of a father, instead he used her for his own dreams. She considered Steven a much better father.

"How did the mission go?" she asked him. "It must have gone pretty well if Cassidy was so mad he actually attacked you in your own house," she said smiling.

He smiled. "I did it," he replied. "I contaminated all the fluid. Nothing can ever grow in there."

"Until they make's more fluid you mean." Jessi reminded him. "He still has the pods and everything else that the Latnok students gave him without realizing."

"I don't think he has the formula anymore," he said. "We stole the disc from his apartment and destroyed it remember?" he tried to reassure her.

But Jessi didn't look convinced. "Kyle, do you honestly think someone would back up all that important data only on one disc? The senior members of Latnok probably have their own copies of it. Like his mother." she said.

Kyle thought about it and said "Well according to the data I stole from his hard drive he only backed it up on one disc. And I don't think he shared any of this data with the senior members because he's doing this experiment on his own."

"But isn't he part of Latnok?" Jessi asked confused.

"Well he's not actually one of the scientists," Kyle explained, "His job is just to find talent for them. But I think he has bigger plans. I asked him earlier if Latnok had everything they needed and he told me that _he_ had everything they needed and he was going to give it to them. I'm pretty sure that Cassidy was planning to sell those clones of mine to Latnok for profit. And he tricked the Latnok students into doing all the work for him, including me." Cassidy may not have been a super genius but he sure was smart if he came so close to pulling a scheme like this.

"You know, Kyle, I know its wrong for Latnok to make clones of you but…," Jessi paused or a moment, "but maybe it's not such a bad idea for them to make more people like us. We wouldn't be alone in the world. I mean, imagine how much civilization could progress if everyone was as smart as us. Imagine how good that would be for the world."

"I know it sounds like a great scenario, Jessi, but I think the reality would be much different. First of all we're dealing with Cassidy here. I'm pretty sure he's motivated by profit. He was planning to give or probably sell some of the clones to Latnok but what if he also sells some them to others who'll keep them, people like you and me, in the tank for their whole lives like Zyzzyx did? Or even worse, what if he sells them to some dictator who wants to build an army out of them and use their abilities to harm others? How do we know that Cassidy won't do that himself? Jessi do you really trust giving this technology to someone like Cassidy? Someone who is capable of murder just to get what he wants?" Kyle felt very strong about this.

"I guess you're right," Jessi said "I'm sorry."

"Jessi you don't have to apologize," he said cupping her cheek. They stood really close to each other and stared into each others eyes. Both of them moved towards each other to kiss but then Kyle pulled back and asked, "By the way, what did Amanda do that made you use that word?"

Jessi really didn't want to talk about this now but she answered, "She told me she's going to ask you to come back to her tomorrow."

Kyle smiled. "She is? She said this to you?" he asked in a dreamily. He noticed the sad look on Jessi's face and immediately snapped out of it. "Jessi you know how much you mean to me," he said hugging her.

"Does that mean you're going to choose me over Amanda?" she asked him.

Kyle wished he could have answered her. Even if it was a no he wished he could have said something. But he didn't know the answer to that question himself. He was so confused. He had feelings for two girls…

"Well you're going to have to choose one of us Kyle," Jessi said finally. "You can't have us both."

"I know," he replied. "I'll have an answer by tomorrow."

Jessi left the room and met Lori in the hallway.

"Sooo….I guess you and Amanda are not getting along very well." Lori said referring to Jessi's outburst.

Jessi blushed in embarrassment and continued walking.

"Jessi wait." Jessi stopped and turned around.

"Look I'm sorry I said that about you and Kyle" Lori apologized to her. "I guess it just seems weird because…your personalities are so different… and I'm just so used to seeing Kyle and Amanda together as a couple."

"Well they're not a couple anymore," Jessi said looking hurt, "and Kyle and I have more in common with each other than we do with anyone else."

Lori hugged Jessi and apologized once more. "I know I'm sorry. So are you and Kyle officially a couple now?" she asked.

Jessi wished she could say yes but she told Lori the facts. "Kyle says he's confused about how he can have feelings for both of us. Amanda told me she's going to ask him to come back to her tomorrow and he's going to have to make a decision."

Now Lori understood why Jessi cursed so loud. "Jessi even if Kyle chooses Amanda over you it won't be the end of the world. There are lots of cute guys for you to choose from in the world. You and Kyle can still have that special connection and continue to be friends" she said sympathetically.

"But I don't want to be just friends!" Jessi said desperately. "He's always been there for me when I needed him. He saved my life more than once. I love Kyle," she cried sobbing into Lori's shoulder while her sister did her best to comfort her.

Meanwhile at the police station Cassidy walked out with an older woman.

"Thank you for bailing me out mother," he said to Grace Kingsley.

"It was nothing Michael darling" she replied in a British accent. "And you can pay me back after you selling off those clones." The senior members of Latnok had still not figured out that Grace and Cassidy were in this together to get money out of Latnok.

"But tell me," she asked, "what the devil happened to you?"

He had forgotten that he was covered in cuts and there was a massive bruise on his cheek.

"Ah yes…we ran into some problems," he said.

"What kind of problems?" Grace asked with her voice louder and eyes glaring.

Cassidy looked down nervously. He didn't like making his mother upset. "Well?" she asked.

"Kyle and Jessi tricked us," he explained. "Jessi wasn't dead at all. She was just pretending. It was all a very elaborate scheme to trick me into telling him what we were up to."

"I see, and then what happened?" Grace asked patiently.

"He…sabotaged the facility. He contaminated the fluid with some kind of bacteria. It's useless now."

"But we can make more can't we?" Grace asked. "You have the formula don't you?"

Cassidy was silent. "Michael? You do have the formula don't you?" Grace's voice was now sounding dangerous.

"He…uh…broke into my apartment and stole the disc that it was on," Cassidy confessed.

"And… you…ONLY SAVED IT ON ONE DISC!?" she screamed shaking with rage, "You Idiot! Imbecile! Because of your stupidity all our hard work is destroyed!"

Cassidy remembered unpleasant memories from his child hood. He hated making his mother upset. "You know mother, there is another place where the formula could be stored," he said.

"Where?" she demanded.

Cassidy smiled sinisterly. "His brain."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning Kyle woke up feeling sore. His body still ached from all those electric shocks Cassidy had given him. He was now no longer wearing Adam's ring. Cassidy's weapon used the ring like a lightning rod to attract the electricity. As Kyle got out of his tub and stretched his sore muscles he remembered that today was the day he would have to choose between Amanda and Jessi. Soon Amanda would come over and he had to have an answer. What he didn't know was that Cassidy's car was parked outside Amanda's house. Both him and Nate were waiting patiently.

Nate was still pissed about getting beat up by two girls. "I can't wait to get my hands on that bitch," he growled.

"Be cool mate," Cassidy told him. "You'll get your chance." Cassidy had gotten Nate to help him by telling him that he could get Nate initiated into Latnok because of his mother's influence.

Meanwhile Mark called up Lori. "Hey, whatsup," she said happily. But Mark didn't seem to be in the mood to flirt on the phone.

"Lori, can I speak to Kyle?" he asked her talking very fast. "I've been trying to reach him all last night and this morning." He didn't realize that Kyle's cell phone had been fried when Cassidy used his weapon on him.

"Mark, what's the matter? You sound really stressed," she said concerned.

"It's just…yesterday he…I have to talk to him. Is he there?" he asked again.

"Yeah he's here hold on," she said as she walked to Kyle's room.

She knocked on the door. "Kyle, Mark wants to talk to you. Give me back my phone when you're done."

Kyle was still deep in thought about Jessi and Amanda when he heard the knock. He opened the door and took the phone from Lori "Hello?"

"Kyle? Man I've been trying to reach you all night. Why the hell didn't you pick up?"

"Sorry," Kyle replied. "My phone doesn't really work at the moment."

"Yeah well you owe me an explanation. What the hell did you do to that fluid in that warehouse?" he asked.

Kyle explained to him how Cassidy had been using them all for his own experiment and how he tried to pull Kyle into it.

"Damn man. I can't believe we all fell for that."

"Yes but at least with him in jail and all the data destroyed his experiments can finally be put to an end," Kyle replied.

"Wait a minute dude, Cassidy's in jail?" Mark sounded surprised. "When did that happen?"

"Last night when he broke into my house and tried to attack me." Kyle answered.

"He broke into your house and attacked you? But I saw Cassidy at his office in UW this morning." Mark replied confused.

Kyle's mind stopped all thoughts for a second. He felt his heart rate increase significantly "You saw him this morning?"

"Yeah he looked like he was cleaning out all his stuff. And his face was really beat up." Mark said. "Did you do that to him?"

"He must have gotten out. Mark, I think my family is in danger I have to go." he hung up and dialed Foss's number.

"Who's this?" Foss asked because he was calling from Lori's phone.

"Foss it's me Kyle, listen, Cassidy got out. He was seen in his office this morning cleaning out all his things."

"Shit…that's not good. Okay stay with your family I'll be over ASAP." Foss already knew everything that happened the night before and he had a pretty good idea of Cassidy was up to. He would 'persuade' Kyle to give him the formula for the fluid stored in his brain by using those close to him. He knew what Cassidy did to Sarah. The Tragers were in grave danger.

Sensing Kyle's anxiety Jessi ran to Kyle's room. "Kyle what's the matter?" she asked with concern.

"Jessi, Cassidy got out," he told her.

"He did? How?"

"I'm guessing his mother had something to do with it," Kyle speculated. "Last night he told me that if I didn't fix his experiment he would hurt everyone close to me. We can't let him get to the Tragers."

Jessi nodded. Then she said "What about Amanda?"

Kyle went white. "I forgot about her. I'll get her over here you stay here with the Tragers."

Outside in the neighborhood Cassidy and Nate saw Amanda come out of her house. As she walked by the car she looked at it suspiciously. Her suspicions were proved correct as second later as the back door on the car opened suddenly and Nate jumped out. Amanda's eyes filled with fear and she turned around and tried to run back to her house but Nate tackled her down.

"No Nate…please!" He slapped her hard. "That's for hitting me earlier."

"AMANDA!" All three of them turned around and saw Kyle running towards them. Nate smiled and pulled out the device that Cassidy gave him. But when he pressed the button nothing happened. Kyle wasn't wearing Adam's Latnok ring this time. _Uh oh…_

Kyle slammed his body into Nate's while running full speed sending him flying into the car hard. He then grabbed Nate by the throat and violently threw his body on the ground. Kyle got on top of Nate and started beating his face to a bloody pulp. "Don't you ever touch her again!" he roared.

But luckily Cassidy was prepared for Kyle not wearing his ring. As Kyle got off of Nate and started walking towards Cassidy he suddenly pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest. Kyle felt a sharp pain and looked down expecting to see a gunshot wound but instead he saw a dart sticking out of his chest. That's when he realized that Amanda had just been the bait and that he was the real target. His vision blurred and he felt extremely light headed. _Jessi…_he tried calling her. Just before he hit the ground he heard Amanda's voice, "Kyle nooooo!" Then everything went black.

"Kyle's in trouble" Jessi sensed. She ran out of the house only to see Amanda on the ground and the car speeding away. "Amanda, get in the house!" Jessi yelled. Amanda immediately obeyed. Jessi also ran back in the house to get Josh's car keys and ran back out. She saw Foss's truck pull up.

"Foss! They took Kyle. I'm going after them. Stay here and protect my family" she told him.

"Wait how do you know where they are?" he asked her.

"Don't worry I can sense Kyle's presence," she replied.

Jumping into Josh's car she drove off with incredible speed. Like she told Foss, Jessi knew exactly where Cassidy's car was because she could sense Kyle's presence in it

Cassidy then called up the Trager house. Nicole picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hello Nicole it's me Cassidy."

There was a long pause until Nicole said, "What do you want?"

"I just want to tell you I have your son. And if you don't want anything to happen to him you won't call the cops. If all goes well I promise you I'll return him completely unharmed in a few days. But if you call the police I will kill him just like I killed Jessi's mother."

"Michael, please don't hurt Kyle," Nicole begged him, "we'll pay you, we'll give you anything—" but Cassidy hung up on her.

Nate stared at his bloody face in the side view mirrors of Cassidy's car. "Bastard's a lot stronger than he looks," he said.

"Trust me Nate I know. You did good mate" Cassidy told him. "You'll be a member of Latnok in no time."

Nate wasn't listening. While staring in the mirrors he noticed a car that was moving up to them awfully fast. He saw the driver's face through the windshield. "Jessi!"

"What?" Cassidy asked.

"She's coming up behind us fast!"

"Shit!" Cassidy cursed as he floored it.

Jessi did the same. It wasn't long before both were doing 150 mph on the highway. Even though they were in the proper lane it seemed like all the other cars were speeding towards them. Cassidy veered left and right trying to maneuver around the cars that were in his way. Jessi did the same. Josh's car might have been an old clunker but thanks to Jessi's engine modifications she was able to keep up with Cassidy easily.

"Here Cassidy, take this exit coming up," Nate suggested.

Cassidy hit the brakes as his car entered the curved exit ramp. Tires screeched and the side of his car scrapped against the side guard. Jessi tried to follow but she wasn't as experienced as a driver and went on the ramp too fast. Her hit the side guard and bounced off sending her spinning while all the cars behind her slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting her.

Cassidy and Nate laughed as they left her behind in the dust, "Goodbye Jessi."

As soon as they got onto the new road they made a turn at the first signal and soon after at another one.

"Alright good we lost her," Nate said finally breathing.

"She knows where we are mate. She can sense him," Cassidy explained pointing to Kyle in the backseat. "My only hope is that her car is wrecked and she won't be able to come after us."

"Now if you'll excuse me I have to call my mum."

He called up Grace to give her the good news. "Mother you're son has done it again," he said smiling.

"Oh dear lord," she said expecting the worst. "What mess have you gotten yourself into this time?"

Cassidy clenched his jaw. He hated how his mother always put him down. How he was never able to live up to her expectations.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you saw who I have riding with me in my car. A very special friend of mine."

"Michael I'm not interested in meeting any more of your girlfriend whores," she said coldly.

"I'm talking about Kyle!"

There was silence at the other end.

"You have 781227?" Grace asked suprised.

"Yes, yes I do mother. Perhaps you shouldn't underestimate me all the time."

"I guess you aren't as stupid as your father after all," Grace chuckled. "You know where to bring them. You're doing well so far. Don't get into an accident and mess everything up now. Bye darling."

It was times like these Cassidy hated his condescending mother.

"Why didn't you tell her about me?" Nate asked. He still thought Cassidy was going to get him into Latnok.

"Uh…I don't think she's in a very good mood…," Cassidy mumbled.

Nate was amused. He saw Cassidy's reaction as he talked to his mother. "Mom trouble's huh?" he asked.

Cassidy didn't reply. He was staring in his rearview mirror. "It's her again," he said flooring it. He wasn't nearly as surprised as Nate was.

Jessi pulled up on Cassidy's side and glared at him. Her car looked quite beat up but still it was able to keep up with him. Using her ability to control electrical current she shut down the spark plugs of each cylinder one by one causing the cylinders to stop working and the car to lose power.

"What's the matter? Why are we slowing down?" Nate asked frantically.

"It's her!" Cassidy replied. "She's doing something!"

Soon the engine was completely shut off forcing Cassidy to pull over on the side of the road. Jessi stopped behind them and got out of the car with a deadly look on her face. Cassidy was now truly scared. He remembered how Jessi promised him that if he ever messed with Kyle or her family she would kill him. He loaded another tranquilizer dart into his gun and exited the car.

He fired the gun at her. However, tranquilizer darts don't move nearly as fast as real bullets. Jessi moved her hand up with incredible speed and caught the dart between her fingers. Nate saw that she was wearing a Latnok ring. He shuffled through his pockets for the zapper that Cassidy gave him.

Jessi used her power to torture Cassidy by moving his blood to certain area's causing his blood vessels to swell and contract. "What did I tell you that day? What did I tell you would happen if you ever touched my family again?" She moved all his blood to his head. The veins in Cassidy's head became really visible and his face turned extremely red. Blood started coming out of Cassidy's nose and mouth.

"Jessi please!" he begged her but she tuned him out. She felt absolutely no remorse. She was finally going to get her revenge. _This is for you Sarah._

All of a sudden she felt electric current go through her body painfully. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Nate held the button down extra long to make her suffer. He was pissed at Jessi for beating him up earlier. Cassidy got up. He walked over to Jessi and brutally stomped her in the face multiple times. All of a sudden he heard sirens.

"Cassidy we have to get out of here!" Nate yelled.

Leaving Jessi on the ground Cassidy and Nate drove away while a police car pulled up next to Josh's car. The cop got out of the car and looked at Josh's car which was all smashed up. He then looked at a very bloody Jessi laying on the ground.

"See this is what happens when you fucking teenagers get drunk and race each other on the street!" he shouted at her not understanding the full situation as he put her in handcuffs.


	5. Chapter 5

**Those of you who have been reading the past four pages and got the update for a new chapter this isn't really a new chapter. I'm just re-arranging my story so it has one chapter per page. I also edited some of the stuff I already wrote especially chapter 8 and 10 so if you want you can read them again.**

Chapter 5

Tom Foss waited outside the house anxiously. Jessi had sped off to find Kyle in the morning and it was night time already. _Why won't she call _he wondered. He thought about calling her but that might jeopardize her safety by giving away her position or something.

Inside the house Steven and Nicole couldn't sleep. "Just when we thought it was all over," Steven said shaking his head.

"There's really no use staying awake," Nicole reasoned. "Cassidy said he would give Kyle back in a few days as long as we don't call the police. We should get some sleep."

"Can _you _sleep?" Steven asked. "Because I sure as hell can't! Our son has been kidnapped! Our daughter went after him and we haven't heard from her yet!"

Just then the phone rang. Steven picked it up.

"Yes, hello? Jessi!" He turned to Nicole and said "It's Jessi," as if she hadn't heard him say her name. "Are you okay, have you found Kyle?" he asked frantically. There was a pause as he listened to her while Nicole anxiously waited.

"YOU WHAT?!" Steven yelled all of a sudden.

Half an hour later Nicole and Steven picked up Jessi at the police station. Jessi's face was badly cut and bruised from Cassidy's boot.

"Do you have ANY IDEA how much trouble you're in?" Steven shouted at her. "You have any idea how much of a fine we've had to pay? Not only have you gotten your license suspended, you've cost us a hell of a lot of money, gotten Josh's car impounded because it's apparently not street legal, and when you finally get your license back, however long that may take, do you have any idea how high your insurance is going to be? I'm not going to be paying for that, just so you know, so you better get a job after you're done with all those months of community service…"

Jessi wasn't listening. It was not that she didn't feel bad about how much trouble she caused her parents. She was too focused on Kyle.

"Do you at least know where he took Kyle?" Nicole asked her. His name caused Jessi to snap out of it.

She shook her head sadly. "I can't even sense him. He's too far away."

Jessi and Nicole didn't say anything on the drive home. Steven continued to rant at her.

When Tom Foss saw them pulling up he relaxed. He got out of his vehicle and ran up to her surprising her parents. "Jessi what happened to you?" he asked.

"Cassidy got away," she simply said. "Look Tom, I really appreciate you watching over the family while I was gone. But I'll take it from here. You can go home and get some rest and we'll find Kyle tomorrow," she told him. He nodded and left.

As they walked into the house Lori and Josh ran up to them.

"Oh my god, Jessi, what the hell happened to your face?" Lori asked her.

"I got into a car accident," Jessi said which was true but not the whole truth.

"Wait a minute, you crashed my car?" Josh panicked. "How much damage?"

"They…took it away because of the modifications I made." Jessi told him.

"Great, thanks a lot Jessi!" he said angrily and went to his room.

"Wait so where's Kyle?" Lori asked.

"Cassidy got away with him," Jessi told her sadly. She felt like a failure. It felt like everyone in the family hated her at that moment, which of course wasn't true, but Jessi was a very insecure girl.

Just then the phone rang. Nicole picked it up. "Hello?"

"Nicole, hi," Cassidy's voice came out of the speaker.

Nicole's blood went cold. "It's him," she told the others.

"Listen did you pick Jessi up from the police station yet?" Cassidy asked.

"Yes."

"Fantastic. Now if you want your son back I need either you or Steven to bring her over to these exact directions because I'm guessing she's not allowed to drive after her little joyride," he said laughing.

"Wait, what do you want with her?" Nicole asked concerned. She didn't want to trade Jessi for Kyle.

"Nothing she's simply going to help me get something out of Kyle's mind. As soon as I have it you can have your son back."

Nicole remembered the Madacorp days. "You want the same thing Madacorp did," she said. "Kyle told us that information could put the world in danger. As much as I want my son back…I know he would not want me to give you that information so I'm sorry….but I can't let you have that," she said this last part breaking down in tears.

"My dear woman you misunderstand me. I only want one thing from his head. And I assure you it won't put the world in danger at all. As a matter of fact you owe your life to this substance. So if anything you'd be doing the world a favor by giving me the formula to make it." Cassidy told her.

"Something tells me your motives aren't so benevolent. You want that bio-fluid so you can continue trying to make clones of Kyle." she said understanding.

"Exactly. So do we have a deal?"

"Kyle would never forgive me."

"But at least he'll be alive," Cassidy told her. "Look, think of it this way. Kyle's a very special boy who can do a lot of good for this world, right? Imagine what many Kyle's can do for the world."

Nicole knew that Kyle still wouldn't approve of this but if all Cassidy wanted was the formula for the fluid…

Nicole thought about it. "I'll talk to Jessi," she said.

"Wonderful, I'll call back in about an hour with the directions," Cassidy said, "and oh, Nicole? If I don't get that formula or you talk to the police I promise you I will kill your son in the most brutal, gruesome way I can think off and I assure you I have quite the sick mind. If you don't think I'll do it then just ask Jessi what I did to her mother. Goodbye," he hung up laughing.

Nicole turned to Jessi. "Jessi, we need to talk."

They both went into a room and Nicole closed the door.

"Jessi, Cassidy says he's willing to give Kyle back if you give him the formula for that bio-fluid." Nicole told her.

"Nicole we can't! He's going to use it to make clones of Kyle," Jessi said with a look that showed she really wanted to give Cassidy the formula.

"Look Nicole, you know how much I want Kyle back, I love him not only as a friend but…I think I'm falling in love with him…but Kyle would hate me for giving Cassidy that formula." Jessi said with fear in her eyes.

Nicole let that sink in fully for a second hugged her adopted daughter. "Jessi I understand what you're saying and if Cassidy asked for the dangerous information that Madacorp wanted then I agree with you we can't give it to him no matter what. But all Cassidy is asking for is that bio-fluid. And even though I think it's completely unethical to clone somebody like that I would give Cassidy that formula if it meant I could have Kyle back. You love Kyle. Wouldn't you do the same?"

"But what about the people in the pods?" Jessi asked desperately. "They'll be sold off like they're property and be treated like lab rats and some of them might never even leave the pod. But they're people, Nicole, people like me and Kyle! Kyle told me he would never want that to happen."

Nicole swallowed hard and said, "Jessi, Cassidy told me if he doesn't get what he wants he'll kill Kyle in the most horrible way he can think of. You don't want that to happen do you?"

Jessi had to make a choice. She had to choose between Kyle and people who hadn't been created yet. People like her and Kyle. She imagined what it would be like to live with Latnok and be used in all their experiments, constantly being studied, constantly tested. Sarah hated it so much she ran away. But then again Adam didn't mind being studied by Latnok and eventually became one of them. She then thought about spending her whole life in the pod like Zyzzyx had wanted her to. Did she really want to risk that happening to someone like her? She thought long and hard for about a minute which was a very long time for her very advanced brain.

"Okay Nicole. I'll do it but Kyle can never know about this."

"Oh, absolutely not," Nicole agreed.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"They'll be here shortly," Cassidy told his mother.

"Excellent." Grace was satisfied. Their plan was working perfectly.

Some time later Nicole and Jessi showed up at the hideout.

"Nicole, wait in the car," Jessi told her mother. "I'll go in, give Cassidy what he wants, and bring Kyle home."

"Jessi, please be careful." Nicole told her.

Jessi got out of the car and walked into the abandoned building. She looked around. It was completely deserted.

"Okay I'm here. What now?" she shouted.

Cassidy stepped out of the shadows. "Jessi," he greeted her grinning. "I'm glad you decided to show up." He paused before adding, "I would have hated to kill a brilliant mind like Kyle."

"Well you didn't seem to mind killing my mother," Jessi replied without hesitating with a look of pure hatred on her face. "Remind me what's stopping me from making your heart explode right now?" she asked him.

Cassidy chuckled as he unbuttoned his shirt exposing some kind of electronic device strapped to his chest. "It's a good thing you didn't because this device here monitors my heart rate and sends a signal to a machine somewhere else this building that I've hooked Kyle up to." He smiled at her. "If you do anything to make my heart rate go up beyond a certain point or make my heart stop beating, in other words no signal, he dies."

"Where is he?" Jessi demanded to know.

"Follow me," Cassidy said and led the way to a large room in the abandoned building. There Kyle was lying on some kind of operating table and right above him was a shotgun pointing at his face. It was suspended by some kind of robotic arm which was hooked up to a strange machine probably the one Cassidy was talking about.

"Did you build this?" she asked him out of curiosity.

"No that would be me," she turned around and saw Nate sitting comfortably in the corner of the room. "I might not be as smart as you or your boyfriend Jessi but I obviously have some kind of intelligence if I was able to get into the Latnok program at UW."

"Nate, I always knew you were a jerk and extremely nosy but why are you helping Cassidy do this? Kidnapping?" she asked him.

"Cassidy's mother here is going to get me into the real Latnok." he answered her.

"Right then," Cassidy interrupted, "Enough chit chat," he walked over to Kyle who was unconscious. "He's fast asleep so he won't be able to fight you," he told Jessi. "Get into his mind, get what you need, and get out he won't even know what's going on. Well lets get to it shall we?"

Jessi put her hands on Kyle's head. "I'm sorry Kyle. I know you won't approve but I don't care. I'm doing this not only for you but for the whole world because the world needs you, Kyle." She closed her eyes and concentrated and her mind connected with his. Soon she found herself inside his dream…

It was some kind of storage room. Most likely at The Rack. Jessi could tell because right in front of her was Amanda in her work uniform and she was making out passionately with Kyle. This made Jessi wonder, had this already happened before?

_I shouldn't be watching _she thought _I'm completely invading his privacy._

But Jessi was heartbroken. He was dreaming about making out with Amanda…did that mean he made up his mind about getting back with Amanda? Just then Kyle stopped kissing Amanda. "Amanda I'm sorry. I can't."

The imaginary Amanda looked confused. "Why not Kyle?" she asked him.

"It's Jessi," he replied. "I have feelings for her now. I didn't before but after you and me broke up Jessi and I became even closer. And it's not that I don't love you, I really do after all that we've been through together. But I also really like Jessi and I don't think it would be fair to her for me to come back to you when you broke up with me."

_Kyle is choosing me…over Amanda?_

"Kyle," the imaginary Amanda said giggling. "You don't have to choose between us. You can have us both silly!"

_What?_

"Really and you're okay with that?" Kyle asked her smiling.

"Of course I am and Jessi will be too. Why don't you go tell her?" she asked.

Jessi shook her head. _Okay now this dream is getting starting to get ridiculous. _

"Kyle I'm right over here," she called out to him.

"Oh hey Jessi" Kyle smiled at her. He didn't realize it was the real Jessi but then again he didn't even know he was dreaming.

Jessi turned to the imaginary Amanda. She knew it wasn't a real person but she still felt uncomfortable talking to Kyle with its image being next to her. "Look uh, can you let us talk in private for a little bit?" she asked 'Amanda'.

"Sure Jessi," she said smiling and left the storage room leaving Kyle and Jessi alone.

_Like that would ever happen in real life. _Jessi smiled to herself.

"So did you finally decide who to be with?" Jessi asked him.

"Yes," he said confidently. "Jessi, I want to be with the both of you."

Jessi rolled her eyes. _Great serves me right. What was I thinking? He's happily dreaming his fantasy and I'm trying to ask him a serious question… Besides it doesn't really matter what he says in here. He could wake up feeling totally different._

But she persisted. "No Kyle. You can't choose the both of us. It's either me or Amanda."

"Oh.." he said sadly. "Well then I pick you Jessi," he said.

Jessi knew that she couldn't take what Kyle said in his dream seriously. But still it felt nice hearing that. She decided to play along. "Can you tell me why?" she asked smiling and staring into his eyes.

"Jessi you've always been there for me. You've always helped me when I needed you. You even left Sarah to help me come find Amanda and you don't even like Amanda. You risked your life on that boat to protect her just because I asked you to." Kyle told her.

_He…actually sounded serious…strange…_Jessi thought to herself.

"I didn't do it for Amanda. I did it for you, Kyle. But when did you first develop feelings for me?" Jessi asked him curious now. _If he really is serious he should be able to answer that._

Kyle thought for a moment and then answered her. "Jessi, for a long time I've loved you as a friend. You and I share a connection that no two other human beings share. And as I said before you're always there for me when I need you. But I still thought of you as nothing more than a close friend. Maybe even a little sister that needed guidance and protecting. But when you told me that you wanted me to be with you instead of Amanda, it made me wonder if I had any feelings for you because I never really thought about it before. Then at the Latnok party when you came down the stairs in that dress, that was the first time I appreciated just how beautiful you are. I never really saw you that way before. And when I saw those pictures of you smiling from your mother's cellphone…Jessi, you look so adorable when you're happy. That's when I realized that I did have feelings for you but I just never realized them because I was still hung up on Amanda."

_Well that sure sounded sincere but does he really feel this way or is this some weird dream of his? _Jessi had weird dreams too. She had this one dream in which she was still with Declan and during the dream she actually felt like she belonged with him but as soon as she woke up she didn't feel like that at all. She still felt attracted to Kyle. Was this dream like the one she had? Would Kyle wake up and think 'I can't believe I just dreamt that'?

"This is just one of your weird dreams Kyle. You don't really feel this way about me," she said to him sadly.

"What?" he asked her confused. Of course he didn't realize this was a dream.

"As soon as you wake up," she began to explain bitterly, "you are going to ask yourself why you had such a strange dream and then go back to your precious Amanda. You don't really mean what you say in here."

Kyle leaned forward and kissed her. Since it wasn't an actual physical kiss Jessi couldn't feel his lips on hers, however, she did feel his emotions that were behind the kiss. _He's really serious… Kyle really meant everything he said!_

"Why the blood hell is she smiling like that?" Cassidy asked Nate while staring at Jessi who still had her eyes closed and her hands on Kyle's head. A tear of happiness came out of one eye and slid down her cheek. "Oh, now she's crying? What's going on in there?"

Then all of a sudden Jessi opened her eyes. She still had the same expression indicating her mind was somewhere else, probably replaying whatever she experienced in Kyle's head. "I have it, I have your formula," she said without any emotion in her voice or looking at Cassidy. "Now give me something to write it down on so I can take him home."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Kyle woke up in his tub. He still felt groggy from all the sedatives that Cassidy used on him. He remembered being shot by Cassidy with a tranquilizer. After that he had no idea what happened or how he got back home. He walked out of his room and into the kitchen where Nicole, Steven, and Jessi were having breakfast since they all had stuff to do. Lori and Josh were still sleeping.

"Hi, how're you feeling?" Nicole asked him with a big smile.

"I guess I still feel a little strange from that tranquilizer he shot me with," Kyle answered her. "Nicole what happened? How did I get back?" Kyle wanted to know.

Both Steven and Jessi stopped eating and looked at each other nervously. "Well Kyle, I don't really know the details," Nicole tried to explain, "but Jessi managed to save you somehow."

Kyle turned to Steven and asked him suspiciously, "Why is your heart beating faster?" Jessi could luckily control her heartbeat.

"Uh…well…because just thinking about yesterday makes my blood boil," he answered which was the truth. "First that man breaks into our house and attacks you and then he tries to kidnap you? Of course my heart rate goes up when I think about him."

Kyle accepted his lie. "But what happened to Cassidy?" he asked.

"Kyle, don't worry. He won't bother us anymore," Jessi said soothingly.

"Did you…you know…"

"Kill him?" Jessi finished for him. "No I didn't. I really wanted to but I didn't. I let him go."

Kyle hugged her. "I'm so proud of you, Jessi. I know how tempting it must have been for you. But you didn't let your emotions control you and you proved that you're better than Cassidy."

Jessi awkwardly hugged him back. None of what she said was true so it felt weird. And she still wanted to kill Cassidy someday. Hopefully Kyle would never find out about it when she finally does.

"So how exactly did you bring me back?" Kyle asked her. He wanted to know all the details.

"She chased after him in Josh's car," Steven answered for her. It was technically true so Kyle didn't pick up on it.

"And then what?" he asked.

"And then I shut down his spark plugs causing his car to stop. I then 'convinced' him never to bother us again or else." Jessi answered. She was able to lie to Kyle comfortably now.

Kyle knew exactly what Jessi meant by 'convinced' and he didn't like it but didn't say anything out of gratitude.

"At what point did he do that?" Kyle asked pointing to Jessi's bruised face.

Jessi had to think about this for a split second. "Nate shocked me with some kind of electrical weapon and then Cassidy stomped my face." she told him.

"And then what?"

"What do you mean? I already told you everything that happened." Jessi said clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"How did you convince Cassidy to leave us alone when Nate still had that weapon?" he asked curious.

"It…um…stopped working. I guess it ran out of power," she said sounding a little nervous.

Kyle looked at her in the eyes. "Jessi is there something you're not telling me?" he asked her.

Jessi relaxed her mind and body as much as she could to slow her heart rate down and then told him confidently. "No Kyle. I told you everything. Now if you don't mind I really don't want to talk about yesterday anymore. What matters is that you're here now. Now I have to go do some community service. I'll be back in the evening, okay?" she said kissing him.

Nicole looked the other way uncomfortably while Steven pretended to not notice by reading the newspaper.

"Steven, are you ready?" Jessi asked him.

"Uh yeah sure let's go." Steven said getting up. As soon as they both left the house Kyle turned to Nicole.

"Why does she have community service?" Kyle asked Nicole.

"Well she got arrested for reckless driving while saving you. They also took Josh's car away because she made a lot of illegal modifications to it though I don't think she knew it was illegal."

"And there's something else I want to talk about," Nicole said sternly. "Kyle, are you and Jessi still pursuing your relationship together?" she asked.

"I know what you said Nicole. I know you don't approve of me dating Jessi while living in the same house as her but I can't help if I have feelings for her," Kyle tried to reason with her.

"Kyle you might have feelings for her but I'm trusting that you won't act on those feelings. I'm telling you this because you're the more reasonable and mature out of the two. Kyle, you and Jessi dating each other is like you and Lori dating each other. She might not be blood related to you but as long as you live in this house she's still like your sister isn't she? It's highly inappropriate." Nicole told him.

Kyle nodded. "You're right. It does seem inappropriate."

Nicole hugged him. "I'm sorry for making you do this Kyle but I knew you would understand. I know how close you two are."

Kyle however was thinking of a way to get around this rule. He'd have to get a place of his own and a job to pay the rent. Now that his life was back to normal maybe he could finally focus on something normal like that.

_But does this mean I chose Jessi over Amanda?_

He remembered a dream he had before he woke up in the Trager house…

_Is my subconscious telling me I should be with Jessi?_ Kyle wondered. _Maybe I should talk to Declan about this._

Meanwhile at The Rack…

"You're breaking up with me?" Declan couldn't believe it. He had grown really attached to Jackie.

"Look is this about yesterday's fight? Because that guy was definitely set on banging you. Even after I told him you were with me he wouldn't stop hitting on you. And you were actually enjoying it! What's up with that?"

"Declan, I guess I'm just not looking for so much commitment right now…" Jackie tried to explain.

"But…. you approached me at the Latnok party and told me you were sick of dating jerks and wanted a nice guy!" Declan said extremely confused.

"I know. And you are a nice guy. One of the nicest I've ever dated. But I…think I might have jumped into this relationship. You see when I saw you at the party I'd just gotten dumped by my ex, who was a real jerk by the way, and I kind of rushed it just to forget about him. Please understand." Jackie told him.

Declan understood alright. He thought of his incident with Hillary at the hotel after getting rejected by Lori at the prom. "Believe me I totally understand," he said to Jackie. "I'm glad I could be your rebound." He got up from the table and walked out of The Rack.

He stood outside just thinking about how much his life had changed in the past two years. He had been rejected by yet another girl after Lori and Hillary. And she told him she wasn't looking for commitment… Declan used that same exact line numerous times back when he was a junior. He thought of the good old days when he used to sleep with a different cheerleader after every basketball game and when scouts from different colleges wanted to talk to him. Back then his future seemed so bright and he really was living the life that every teenage boy dreamed about. As Declan continued thinking about what his life used to be like his phone rang. Declan sighed and pulled it out. When saw that it was Kyle he forgot about everything else and immediately answered it.

"Holy shit, Kyle, Lori told me that Cassidy actually came into your house and tried to hurt you and you actually got into a fist fight with him! I wanted to come over yesterday but uh… me and Jackie got caught up in some shit. So what the hell is going on?"

Declan was very excited and a little upset that he missed so much action. He wanted to know everything.

"I'll tell you everything that happened but why don't we meet at The Rack?" Kyle suggested. "I have some things I'd like to talk to you about."

"Um…The Rack…yeah I'm not really in the mood for that," Declan said looking back at it and thinking of Jackie. "You know what I'll just come over to your house."

"Okay I'll see you soon."


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay Bobby I listened to what you said about how Kyle decided between Amanda and Jessi a little too quickly so I edited this chapter a little bit.**

Chapter 8

A few minutes later Declan arrived at the Trager house.

"Kyle hey bro," Declan greeted his friend. "I can't believe you actually grew some balls and hit somebody," he said laughing.

"I had no choice. He said he was going to hurt everyone close to me," Kyle told him with a serious expression.

"Dude, don't worry about it. You don't have to explain. Lori told me everything already. Anybody would have done the same thing in your place. I probably would have probably taken it a step further and killed him," Declan said trying to make Kyle relax.

This made Kyle even tenser because he remembered just how close he came to doing that.

"But she didn't tell you what happened yesterday, did she?" Kyle asked him.

"No, she…" he paused. "Why did I miss something else?"

Kyle told him how Cassidy kidnapped him and how Jessi saved him getting hurt and arrested in the process.

"Man Jessi's one tough chick," Declan said. "She'd do anything for you."

Then he added. "Bro that's how you know she's the one for you. How many girls do you think would jump into a car and chase the kidnappers at crazy insane speeds to save their boyfriends instead of just calling the police like a normal person?"

"I'm not really her boyfriend," Kyle reminded him. "In fact that's what I needed to ask you about."

"Oh yeah, you're still trying to decide between Amanda and Jessi." Declan said annoyed. "Dude you have two hot girls fighting over you and you want to ask me for advice when I keep getting dumped and rejected? I'm the one who needs fucking advice!" He was quite upset.

"Declan…I'm sorry," Kyle said realizing what had happened between him and Jackie. "Did she tell you why?"

"Man…she said she didn't want commitment. Can you believe that? I used to say that every Saturday and Sunday morning to some heartbroken girl," he said shaking his head in disbelief. "Anyway I don't want to talk about how bad my life sucks. So are you still deciding?"

"I had this dream," Kyle told him. "In it I was telling Jessi all these reasons why I liked her so much. And it felt so real. Everything I confessed to her in that dream is exactly the way I feel. But as soon as I woke up I still felt a longing to be back with Amanda…and yet I still wanted to be with Jessi at the same time."

"Dude, figuring out what people's dreams are telling them is really not my specialty. You should ask Nicole what it means," Declan advised him.

Kyle sighed. "That's a problem," he said.

"What's the problem?" Declan asked.

"It's Nicole." Kyle told him. "She doesn't want me and Jessi having a relationship while living in the same house."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing you're going off to college in a month." Declan said. "By the way where will you be going?" he asked.

Kyle had completely forgotten about college. He smiled "I got accepted into every school I applied to but I want to go to the University of Washington like Adam did."

"What? Kyle why are you wasting your time with UW when you can go to one of those big shot schools like Yale or MIT or something?"

"Because UW is close to home," Kyle answered. "I'll be able to see Steven, Nicole, and Josh every weekend. Plus Jessi's going to UW because her mother went there."

"Well there you go man. Problem solved. Just one more month and you and Jessi will be free." Declan felt sad saying this. Kyle immediately picked up on this and he knew why Declan was sad.

"So where are you going to go?" he asked his friend.

"I don't know. I pinned all my hopes on basketball and my grades totally sucked ass. And now that I can't play basketball anymore I don't know what I'll do..."

Kyle tried to make his friend feel better. "Declan you can still go to a community college and…"

Declan interrupted him. "You know what? It's Friday isn't it? How about we go get smashed tonight?"

"Smashed?" Kyle was confused.

"Yeah you know, hammered. Just like last time."

"I'm…still not following," Kyle said.

"I'm talking about getting drunk dude!" Declan said impatiently.

"I want to get so wasted that I'll wake up the next morning not remembering a goddamn thing that happened and look at the girl laying next to me and say 'damn what the hell was I thinking, I must have been trashed."

"So you want to do something that you know you'll regret the next day?" Kyle asked not understanding the logic in that.

"Basically yeah," Declan said nodding his head.

"Hell yeah," Josh said finally awake. "Count me in."

"Oh sure," Declan said grinning. "We need a designated driver."

"Yeah, real funny asshole, I was the driver last time." Josh said.

"Okay. I'll be the designated driver. I don't really feel like getting drunk again." Kyle told them both. "In fact I'd really prefer we don't go," he said to Declan.

"Kyle come on man, I need this. Please."

Kyle wanted Declan to feel better after his breakup. So he agreed. "Okay."

"Great," Declan smiled.

"As soon as I get off work," Josh said.

"Hey Declan," they heard Lori's voice. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Hey Trager," Declan said. "Me, Josh, and Kyle are gonna hang out later tonight. You want to join us?" he asked.

"Mark and I already had plans to go see a movie but that's okay we should all hang out together instead," she said liking the idea. "What are you guys going to be doing?"

"Oh you know just hang out at my place, play some G-force," Declan lied.

Lori made a motion like she was going to vomit and left them alone.

Kyle was confused. First Declan asked her if she wanted to come along then he changed his mind and lied so she wouldn't be interested. Did Mark have something to do with it?

_Is Declan still interested in Lori _he wondered.

"Nice dude," Josh said smiling. He clearly didn't want Lori to come along.

Just then the doorbell rang. Kyle opened the door and saw the beautiful face of Amanda Bloom.

Amanda's facial expression which looked extremely worried immediately changed to happiness when she saw Kyle. She hugged him tightly.

"You're back! Kyle I was so worried about you!" she said. "What happened? Jessi drove off after you and didn't come back for hours! We were so worried…" Tears started coming out of her eyes. "I'm sorry…it's just that…that was the most traumatic experience of my life. I actually saw someone I care about getting kidnapped in front of my own eyes…I was so scared," Amanda said crying.

Watching Amanda cry made Kyle feel bad. "It's okay Amanda," Kyle said holding her. "It's over. I'm back now thanks to Jessi."

Amanda looked up at him. "Jessi? So she managed to save you?" Amanda felt even more grateful to Jessi now than she felt when Jessi saved her from Nate. "I'll never be able to repay her for that. And driving off after you like that instead of calling the cops? That takes guts."

"Jessi is…special," Kyle said agreeing with her.

Amanda stared at Kyle. Did he have feelings for her? Realizing its now or never Amanda decided to ask.

"Kyle?"

"Yes?"

"Kyle, I made a terrible mistake when I broke up with you. I didn't know any better I thought you were cheating on me with Jessi. But now I know the truth…and I want you back."

Kyle didn't say anything. He thought of his dream where he confessed his feelings to Jessi. He meant every word of that.

"Amanda…" he began. "Amanda, I really do love you, and after all we've been through together, I think I'll always love you…but I also really like Jessi now."

Amanda felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. "How long," she simply asked trying to hold back the tears.

"I didn't have any feelings for her when I was dating you," Kyle answered honestly "But I guess when you and I broke up it made me and her become even closer…and…for me to come back to you now…just wouldn't be fair to her. I'm sorry Amanda I hope we can still …" he stopped there. He remembered what Declan said about the be lets just be friends line.

"Yeah," Amanda nodded understanding. There was nothing left to say "Well…I guess I'll see you around. Tell Jessi I'll always be in her debt for saving you." Amanda Bloom turned around and walked out the door. As soon as she was outside the tears started pouring down her face. She was too late. Jessi had won, she thought bitterly.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Gentlemen, thank you for coming," Cassidy greeted his guests. Sitting before him were some of the most powerful people in the world from various different countries. There were CEO's of big corporations, military leaders, politicians, and some particularly notorious people. All of them had one thing in common. They could pay big money. "I'm about to make you all the offer of a lifetime."

"We at Latnok have accomplished something incredible," he told them. We have managed to create two biologically enhanced human beings with physical and mental capabilities far beyond that of any human or dare I even say, any computer currently in existence."

The guests didn't say anything.

Cassidy clicked his remote and a picture of Kyle and Jessi appeared on the gigantic screen in front of where everyone was sitting.

"The male is codenamed 781227 or XY for short and the female is 781228 or XX. They were created in an artificial womb and gestated for 16 years. As a result they're brains are more developed and complex than any other person in the history of the human race. Not only are they extraordinarily intelligent but their brains allow them to push their bodies far beyond what any one of us can. Their physical strength and endurance can be called without any doubt superhuman."

He clicked his remote and a paused video appeared on the screen. "This was taken at a local Seattle high school." Cassidy said.

It showed a blonde teenage girl holding a microphone talking while smiling seductively.

"Over here," Cassidy pointed with his laser pointer behind the girl. He was pointing to a blurry figure standing on top of a three story building. He clicked the remote and played the video.

"..until next time, I'm Hillary and I'm fabulous…" the blonde girl was saying but none of the guests paid any attention to her. Behind her the mysterious figure on top of the building jumped of the roof and landed on her feet and then walked away completely unharmed.

The guests gasped and talked amongst themselves. "Does he expect us to take this seriously?" "It's probably a stunt. Hollywood does those all the time."

Just then another video appeared on the screen. It showed that same blonde girl this time by a pool. While she was rambling on about something however, in the background, a female form ran across the pool on top of the water. As soon as she reached the other side she turned her face towards the camera revealing herself to be XX.

A third video appeared on the screen. It showed a boy, XY, strapped down to a hospital bed. The boy looked over a few feet away from him at some scalpels.

"Watch closely," Cassidy told them. A few seconds later one of the scalpels floated up into the air a few inches then shot forward towards his hand. It missed and got itself stuck into a wall. The boy tried again and once again missed. He tried a third time and this time managed to catch the instrument in his fingers. The men watched speechless as he cut himself lose.

A fourth video came up on the screen. It showed the girl again XX easily fighting off multiple men who looked much stronger than her. At one point she grabbed one of the men by the throat and lifted him of his feat into the air with only one hand.

"And I have one more video for you," Cassidy said. "This one was taken at the University of Washington at a science fair. This is actually an official school video so it couldn't have been faked by us. That boy managed to build a fully working hover-board magnet in just one day with ordinary house hold materials." He played this last video for them.

"We've managed to make a list of all of their abilities that we've discovered so far. You'll find it on the computer screens on your desks. Unfortunately it might very well be out of date," he smirked. "They discover some new trick every other day."

"Now let's get down to business. We have the capability of cloning XY and we're willing, or rather I'm willing to sell them to anyone who might be interested. I know each and every one of you could find a use for that incredible brain of his. You don't even have to take him out of the tank. You could just keep him in there in an unconscious state and use his brain as an ultra powerful bio-computer to hack into just about anything. No cyber defense system in the world is advanced enough to block them.

A man in a uniform spoke up. "Mr. Cassidy, do you expect us to any of believe all this? Every one of your videos could have been faked without much effort. We need to meet your experiments in person."

_Fuck…_Cassidy thought. Unknown to all the men, Kyle and Jessi didn't exactly work for Latnok.

"Okay..." he thought quickly wondering how he could salvage this. "General, I have a better idea. How would you like a live demonstration of their capabilities?" he asked.

The General looked around at his fellow guests and they all nodded in agreement. "That sounds fine. When are you going to hold this demonstration?"

"I'll contact you all soon. In the mean time I trust you'll keep this meeting a secret. None of what we're doing is technically legal…."

Meanwhile at the Trager house…

Kyle and Declan waited patiently for Josh to come home from work.

Once again Declan thanked Kyle for lightening up. "Thanks a bunch man. I really need this night to get rid of all this stress."

"But won't it all just come back tomorrow morning?" Kyle asked him.

"Yeah, it'll be back alright. But tonight I'll be free from it. Tonight is all about forgetting all your problems and having a good time, maybe even getting laid if you're lucky." Declan explained to him.

"So this is all about finding another girl to replace Jackie?" Kyle asked slowly beginning to understand.

"Well, not exactly. If I get lucky tonight, it's most probably going to be a one time only thing. But who knows? If we wake up the next morning without freaking out then we might see each other again and maybe…" as Declan was explaining this to Kyle the door opened and Steven and Jessi came home. Jessi walked over to her friends.

"Hi Declan. Hey Kyle," she leaned forward to kiss him but he pulled back.

"Jessi wait a second." He told her. Steven was right behind her and he didn't want to be seen kissing Jessi when he promised Nicole he wouldn't have that kind of relationship while they still lived in the same house. He decided to talk about something else until Steven left. "Amanda came over today."

"Oh she did? So did you get back with her?" Jessi asked him without any worry. She didn't have anything to worry about. She already knew how he felt about her from his dream.

"She asked me to. But I turned her down…" he said.

"Because you want to be with me." she finished his sentence.

Right behind her Steven was on his way up the stairs when he suddenly stopped wondering if he just heard what he thought he heard.

Declan saw his cue. "Hey Mr. Trager I've got this question about computers I'd really appreciate if you could answer this…

Kyle whispered to Jessi in a low voice. "Yes. I want to be with you Jessi I really do but we have a problem. Nicole doesn't want us pursuing that kind of relationship in this house and since it is her house I think we have to respect her wishes."

Jessi's looked confused. "So you turned Amanda down because you like me but you don't want to be with me either?" she asked not understanding.

"Look, it's only temporary." Kyle told her. "Once we move out of here and go to UW we'll be free to do what we want but while we're here we follow her rules. It's only for a month."

"Well I suppose we can wait for one more month," Jessi said looking disappointed.

Kyle felt bad about it too. He really liked her.

Just then Josh arrived home. "Thank god it's Friday I can't wait to…" he stopped when he saw his father talking to Declan.

"Wait to do what?" Steven asked curiously.

"Wait…to go to Declan's house," Josh answered on the spot. "So we can have a G-force marathon."

"Since when were you into G-force?" Steven asked Declan suspiciously.

"Who said I was into it? I just like playing it once in a while and it'll be fun hanging out with Kyle and Josh." Declan replied with a confident look that showed he was very good at lying except to Kyle and Jessi of course.

"Hey, can I come?" Jessi asked.

"Nah, Jessi you probably wouldn't like it," Josh told her.

"But I love G-force I play it with you all the time," Jessi replied wondering why Josh wouldn't want her to come.

"Yeah but…Jessi it's sort of a… guys night out," he tried to explain. As he said this however Kyle noticed his heart beat slightly faster. No doubt Jessi picked up on it too.

"Josh, your…" she began but Kyle cut her off.

"Yes! Yes you can with us Jessi," he said quickly.

Josh gave him a look that said, _What the hell are you doing?_

"Great," she said with a big smile. "I'll just shower and change quickly." She ran up the stairs.

When Steven also went upstairs Josh whispered to his brother so no one would hear. "Dude do you _really _think it's a good idea for her to come along? Because you _know _she's gonna drink just to fit in. And after the way you acted last time I can't even imagine what she would do…"

Declan walked over to them and defended his friend, "Look if Kyle hadn't said yes then she would have kept asking questions why and probably realized we were lying to her and called us out on it with Steven right there," he explained. "Kyle did the smart thing."

"I'll keep an eye on Jessi," Kyle told his brother. "I'll make sure she won't drink."

A few minutes later Jessi came down all fresh and ready.

"All right lets go.

"I've never been to your house, Declan. Lori told me it was really big," she said to him as they walked out to his car.

As soon as they got into the car Declan turned to Jessi and said, "Jessi we're not really going to my house."

Jessi looked confused. "Then where are we going?" she asked.

"A bar that doesn't check IDs," he explained to her with a big smile.

"A bar? You want to go to a bar that doesn't check IDs so can participate in underage drinking!" she said understanding now. "But won't we get in trouble for that?"

"Not if you keep your mouth shut and go along with the story. We're going to Declan's house to play G-force. If anyone asks you where you've been that's what you tell them, understand?" Josh told her. He still thought she was going to ruin it all for them with her inability to keep a secret even when she tried.

"Yes, I understand," she told him. When he didn't look convinced she tried to reassure him, "Look since I've moved into your house I've gotten much better at lying, trust me."

Kyle had no idea how true that statement was.

Declan smiled, "Thanks Jessi, I knew I could count on you."

On the drive there Jessi asked them lots of questions.

"So why do people go to bars?"

"Kyle, you want to take this one?" Declan asked him hoping that Kyle would remember everything that Declan had explained to him on the subject.

"It's a social bonding experience," Kyle told her. "After a stressful week at work many adults find it relaxing to go to a bar and hang out with their friends."

"You mean how we hang out at The Rack?" Jessi asked.

Kyle nodded. "Kind of except they serve alcohol at bars and that's another major reason for people going there."

"But why do people drink alcohol?" Jessi asked curious.

It was Declan's turn to answer. "Because alcohol temporarily makes you stop caring about all the fucked up problems in your life so you can finally relax and have a good time with your friends, if only for that night."

"Oh," Jessi said contemplating this. "I think I can understand that."

"And it also makes girls feel a lot looser and easier for you to get in their pants," Josh said as if he knew what he was talking about.

"Oh it does? Is that another reason why people go to bars?" Jessi asked.

"Jessi you're not planning on drinking are you?" Kyle asked in a serious tone. He was uncomfortable with the idea of a drunk Jessi being taken advantage of by some guy.

"No," she replied. "I tried it once before…didn't like it"

"When did you try alcohol?" Kyle asked puzzled.

"I'd…rather not talk about it," she simply said. It brought back memories of her first night out of the pod…

Satisfied, Kyle didn't even bother making Jessi promise him that she wouldn't drink.

15 minutes later they arrived at the famous bar that was notorious for not checking IDs.

"Finally we're here," Josh said getting out of the car.

"I can't wait to get smashed," Declan said eagerly. "Kyle…thanks man…for this."

Kyle really didn't want to be there at all but he decided he would do it for his friend.

"No problem Declan. Now go enjoy yourself but please be responsible."

"Dude what are you his mom?" Josh asked sarcastically.


	10. Chapter 10

**After seeing that this chapter was shorter than the other ones I decided to edit it and add some stuff to it to make it longer. **

Chapter 10

As soon as they entered the building Declan and Josh headed over to the bar to order drinks. Jessi looked around. She was amazed by everything she saw.

"Look Kyle they have games!" she said excitedly. "I want to play darts," she squealed and headed over there with Kyle.

As they walked over there some random drunk girl grabbed Kyle and said "Hey it's you!"

She turned to her friend and said, "This is the guy I told you about who could do all those really cool tricks!" Turning back to Kyle she said, "Oh my god you have to do something really cool again! Move something without touching it!" _Uh oh_ Kyle thought.

As Jessi was walking over to where people were playing darts something even more interesting caught her attention. She saw pool tables on the other side of the room. Jessi loved to play pool. The whole thing was basically geometry and angles and she excelled at it just like her mother. Barely able to contain her excitement she made her way over there assuming that Kyle was right behind her. She got there just as a game was over. "Excuse me, can I play?" she asked eagerly.

By the time Kyle had finally managed to free himself by convincing the girls they really had mixed him up with someone else Jessi was gone. He looked over at the darts place and didn't see her there. He knew she was still in the building because he could sense her. _Maybe I'll just try to sense her exact location _he thought focusing. All of a sudden he felt someone shove him from behind. He turned around surprised and saw two pissed off drunk men.

"Hey pal, we saw you talking to our girls," one of them growled. _Oh this is just great…_

Jessi meanwhile impressed the hell out of everybody with her billiard skills.

"Damn girl you got some game!" the former champ said clearly amazed at how quickly she defeated him.

"Thank you," she said happily. She loved the attention she was getting from everybody. "It's really quite easy if you understand physics and geometry," she said trying to make it look like it's no big deal.

"Really?" he asked interested although he was interested in only one thing.

Meanwhile Kyle was lucky enough to get himself out of a fight by convincing the men that he really had no interest in their girls and didn't even know them. He wasn't afraid of the men at all. He could easily handle them. But he hated violence and avoided a fight at all costs.

He looked around for Jessi once again trying to sense her out when Josh tapped him.

"Hey man, you having fun?" he asked Kyle.

"I just met two girls who recognized me from when I showed off my abilities last time and I had to convince them that I wasn't the same guy. And then I almost got into a fight with their boyfriends."

Josh found this very amusing. "Yeah that sucks man. Where's Jessi at?"

"I don't know," Kyle replied. "She ran off somewhere while I was talking to those people."

"Uh oh that's not good. You better find her man. I know she's kinda like my sister now and everything but she's pretty hot and we are in a bar," he said reminding Kyle what people were here for.

Meanwhile…

"What do you mean you don't drink?" the guy she was talking to earlier asked. He was flirting with Jessi and she was really enjoying his company. "So why are you in a bar then?"

"I don't really like the taste," Jessi explained. "And I'm here for my friend. He's having a bad day."

"Well you acquire the taste," the man told her. "It's kinda like sex. The first time is not that great is it? But once you do it more often it gets better, doesn't it?" he asked her.

Jessi blushed. "Oh, I wouldn't know" she said.

"Oh really?" he asked surprised. _This is going to be a good night_ he thought.

Kyle concentrated on pinpointing Jessi's location. He finally saw her and to his shock and horror he saw her sitting at a table and taking shots with some strange man. The table was surrounded by several other men and women cheering every time she took a shot.

Jessi felt like throwing up. The alcohol burned her throat. But she loved how all the guy's friends were cheering her on. She loved how she was the center of attention. Just then Kyle arrived and grabbed her. "Jessi come on," he said angrily.

"Wait a minute, who the fuck are you?" the guy demanded.

"I'm her boyfriend," Kyle told him.

"Yeah? Well your girl wants hang with us so maybe you should just fuck off!" he said trying to shove Kyle.

But Kyle just grabbed his hands and said "Look, I don't want to hurt you."

The guy tried to pull his hands free but they didn't even budge against Kyle's incredible strength. He looked at Kyle nervously. Kyle released his hands and turned around to walk away but as soon as he turned around the guy punched Kyle in the back of the head knocking him on the floor. Jessi was furious. She grabbed the guy by his neck and lifted him into the air with just one hand choking him. All his friends were stunned by this display of strength which was exactly why Jessi loved this move.

"Don't ever touch him again," she told him slowly before throwing him several feet away.

"Come on Kyle lets go somewhere else," she said and walked away with him while the guy's friends stared in disbelief.

"Why were you drinking Jessi?" Kyle asked annoyed while rubbing the back of his head.

"Kyle, it's okay, everyone else here's doing it," she said not understanding why he was so upset.

"Jessi pretty soon that alcohol is going to make you feel really weird and then you're going to do things that you might regret tomorrow," he warned her.

"Yo Kyle, Jessi, over here!" they heard Declan shouting. He and Josh were sitting at a table. They went over and sat down and talked for a while.

After a few minutes Jessi told them, "Hey guys, I feel really weird." She touched her face. "My face feels numb" she said surprised.

Kyle sighed. "It's the alcohol Jessi. You're just buzzed off it."

"Really? This is kind of fun," she giggled.

"Look Kyle, they have Karaoke singing! I want to sing an Avril Lavinge song!" Jessi ran off.

"Jessi wait, uhhh," Kyle gave up and put his head on the table. _This is such a bad night_ he thought.

"I never understood what she sees in Avril Lavigne," Declan said shaking his head.

"Kyle my man, you need a drink." Josh said offering him his beer.

"What about being the designated driver?" Kyle asked him.

"Yeah dumbass, are you that drunk already that you forgot that he's driving us home?" Declan told Josh.

"Dude he has the ability to puke himself sober!" Josh replied. "I swear to god I saw him doing it last time."

"Are you fucking serious? Kyle, that is, without a doubt, the coolest ability you have!" Declan said amazed.

"I can't really puke myself sober," Kyle tried to explain to them. "I manipulated the polarity of the alcohol in my body to…"

He was interrupted by a very familiar husky female voice on the microphone.

"Um hello, my name is Jessi, and I'm going to be singing the song Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne…. HEY HEY YOU YOU I DON'T LIKE YOUR GIRLFRIEND NO WAY NO WAY I THINK YOU NEED A NEW ONE…"

Declan and Josh started laughing hysterically like hyenas. Kyle just shook is head and smiled. It was rather funny. Declan pulled out his cellphone and started recording her on camera.

A few hours and many drinks later they decided to leave. Everybody except Kyle was pretty wasted and he realized how annoying it was to be surrounded by drunk friends while being the only sober one. He felt bad for what he put Josh through last time they came here. Everyone else stumbled out of the bar after Kyle laughing really loud at stuff that wasn't even that funny. Jessi especially. Kyle found her a bit annoying tonight. He didn't say anything though because he knew that he was probably just as annoying to Josh last time.

At least Jessi didn't show off her abilities like he did. Well, she did win a lot of money playing pool, darts, beer pong, and other games and she used that money to buy everyone else drinks. Declan had managed to pick up some ditsy blonde named Jamie that made Hilary look smart and even Josh managed to get some phone numbers, though he wasn't going to take it any further because he was still with Andy.

"Wow that was sooo much fun…" Jessi slurred her words heavily. She turned to Kyle and smiled at him. "Kyle you're so handsome…" she said drunkenly. She pulled him towards her and kissed him. Kyle tried to protest, "Jessi wait I thought we agreed we'd wait till…"

"Shut up Kyle," Jessi said and continued kissing him. Kyle gave in. They both began making out in the parking lot.

"Oh my god, get a room you guys," laughed a very drunk Jamie.

"Dude! That's disgusting!" yelled Josh "You guys are practically my brother and sister! This is too weird…"

"Trager, you're just pissed because you're the only one who doesn't have a girl tonight." Declan said while kissing Jamie.

Kyle took a break from kissing Jessi. He felt much better. Everything he had been through that night, with all the people trying to fight him, getting punched in the head, and desperately trying to keep Jessi from doing anything she might regret, none of it seemed to trouble him anymore.

He looked around at Declan, Josh, Jessi and the new girl. They were all joking around and laughing with each other. Kyle felt a sense of peace for the first time in so long. This was where he wanted to be, he realized, with his friends having a good time. He didn't want the night to end so soon.

"So where do we go now?" he asked Declan.

"Now we go to my place and spend the rest of the night there," Declan told him. "Maybe watch a movie, or go chill out in my pool."

"That sounds good. I'd like to…chill out." Kyle replied smiling.

_This is what I meant when I told Jessi I wanted my life to get back to a constant_ he thought. This was what his life was like way back before Zyzzyx was trying to kill him. And later on in the months before Madacorp revealed their true intentions. When he was still learning about the world, worrying about normal everyday things, and hanging out with his friends and family, having a good time. _This would be a nice constant_ he thought happily. Unfortunately it wouldn't last.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's a new chapter for you guys. This one gets back to the main plot. Don't worry Bobby I got some ideas on how to spice this story up.  
**

Chapter 11

Kyle woke up in Declan's living room after a night of fun. He was the first one to wake up since he was completely sober and because him and Jessi didn't need as much sleep as regular people. The first thing he noticed was Jessi sleeping right next to him. He sat up and watched her for a while thinking. He had never seen Jessi act like that before. Normally she was the one that fit in the least among Kyle's circle. But last night was different. Jessi had caused him a lot of trouble last night but still he didn't mind. He didn't mind because for the first time since she found out Sarah died Jessi was smiling and enjoying her self like she did in those pictures that Sarah took…_Jessi looks so beautiful when she smiles, _he thought to himself while gently stroking her. That smile made it all worth it.

By the time she came back from her community service yesterday her bruise had already healed up completely thanks to her accelerated healing, but still Kyle could picture it clearly. He couldn't believe Cassidy had actually stomped on her face. Kyle was a very non-violent person, maybe even too much for his own good, but Cassidy had made him so angry…

Then he felt slightly disturbed. _Maybe I was wrong to make out with Jessi like that when she was drunk,_ he thought. They didn't go beyond kissing, he made sure of that, although Jessi really wanted to touch at least second base in her drunken state. _'I'm telling you this because you're the more reasonable and mature out of the two,' _Nicole's words echoed in his head. He had broken her trust, he realized, and it didn't feel good at all, even if she didn't know about it yet. He should have just waited one more month till they were both living in dorms at UW.

Jessi's eyes opened and saw she saw Kyle gazing at her. "Kyle?"

"Good morning Jessi. You had an interesting night," he said to her smiling. "How do you feel?" he asked her.

Jessi sat up and rubbed her temples. "My head hurts," she said.

"That's because you've got a hangover," he told her. "The alcohol dehydrated your body. Drink some water you'll feel better."

Jessi remembered everything that happened the night before with a look of complete embarrassment on her face. Finally she said, "I can't believe I acted like that," looking mortified.

"Don't even worry about it, I've already been there," he told her.

"Really? When did you get drunk?" she asked him.

"When Declan and Josh were trying to help me get over getting dumped by Amanda," he said. "I was showing off all my abilities and at one point I went up on the Karaoke stage and showed everybody my stomach which totally freaked them out."

"You did?" she asked amazed. She shook her head, "I could never imagine you like that. You're always the voice of reason, the one in control of his emotions, the one who's taking care of everybody else," she said.

This reminded him of Nicole's words and he felt bad. "Jessi," he said to her seriously. "What you and me did last night, we can't let it happen again. I mean, we only have one more month before we go off to college and we'll have plenty of time to develop our relationship further then. But right now while we live in Nicole's house I really don't want to break her trust anymore. She's given us so much, Jessi, and I think we owe her that, especially since it's only one month."

Jessi looked down sadly but she understood. "Yeah you're right. I'm sorry Kyle. One month isn't that long. I can wait."

Jamie came running down the stairs from Declan's room in a hurry. "Bye Kyle, bye Jessi, I am sooo late for work!" she said as she ran out the door.

"Bye," both Kyle and Jessi said to her before she left.

"I wonder if she and Declan had sex," Jessi said brutally blunt and straight forward as always.

Before Kyle could tell her that it was none of their business Declan answered her himself.

"We sure did," he said coming down the stairs with a broad grin on his face. "You guys had fun last night?" he asked them.

"I had fun," Jessi answered quickly, "but I'm a little embarrassed over the way I acted."

"Jessi don't be embarrassed, I actually liked the way you acted last night," Kyle said to her.

"What? You did? You liked it when I was drunk and acting all stupid?" she asked surprised.

"Well no not that," he told her. "I liked how you were interacting with everyone else. How you were laughing and joking around with everybody. You should be like that more often."

"Yeah Jessi," Declan said. "Yesterday for the first time I truly felt like you were one of us," he said, 'us' referring to himself, Kyle, Lori, Josh, Andy, Hillary, and Amanda, although Jessi and her probably still wouldn't get along for a long time. "Welcome to the family," he said to her kindly.

"I'm so glad," Jessi said hugging him. This was the life she had been dreaming about for so long. She now had a family, a close knit group of friends, and a boyfriend.

Miles away, Cassidy landed at the airport in Seattle. As soon as he got off the plane the first thing he did was call his mother.

"Hello mother."

"How did the meeting go?" she asked him.

"Our clients want to see a live demonstration of Kyle's abilities in person," he told her.

"So they are interested," Grace said satisfied. "Give them their demonstration," she told him.

"Mother, how exactly am I supposed to do that?" he asked her. "Kyle and Jessi don't really work for us now do they? And I don't want to test him against his will like I did by kidnapping his girlfriend because I'm afraid we've reached the limits of his tolerance."

"Are you frightened by a mere science experiment?" Grace asked her son with disgust.

"Mother, last time he almost killed me," he told her. "And then I kidnapped him. So imagine how much more pissed off he is now. We don't want him coming after us because it would make things much more complicated. We want to pull this off as quietly as possible don't we?"

"I suppose you're right," Grace said. "Let me see what I can do," she told him and hung up.

Meanwhile back at Declan's house Kyle, Jessi, Josh, and Declan finished eating lunch since they all woke up half an hour before noon.

"I have to get back so I don't miss my community service for today," Jessi told Kyle.

"Oh yeah, for wrecking my car you mean." Josh said.

"Josh, we'll get you a new car." Kyle told him. "We should all start walking back home now. Declan thanks for letting us stay over." Kyle said to his friend.

"Yeah man, I had a blast," Josh said.

"Me too," Jessi added.

"No thank _you_ guys," Declan told them. "I really needed that night and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun without you guys. Especially Jessi with her Avril Lavigne imitation."

They all laughed and the three Trager children left. As Declan watched them go he felt all the sadness he temporarily escaped from last night come back to him.

"Finally you're home," Steven said to Jessi once they got back to the house. "Hurry up and get ready we have to be there in an hour." She ran upstairs to the shower.

"So what did you guys do?" he asked them.

"Like we said," Josh answered. "Played G-force, watched a movie, just basically hung out."

"Hmm. Well that's good. As long as you didn't do anything stupid," he said unsuspectingly.

"Hey Kyle, could you mow the lawn today?" Steven asked his son.

"Sure," Kyle replied and headed back outside.

As he rolled the lawnmower out of the garage he noticed an elderly woman staring at him. As soon as she saw him looking back at her she motioned for him to come towards her. Kyle let go of the lawnmower and walked towards her wondering who she was and what she wanted.

"Why, hello." She said in a British accent.

"Hello," Kyle replied.

"It's good to finally meet you," she said to him smiling.

"I'm sorry but who are you?" Kyle asked smiling back.

"I'm your mother."

It hit Kyle like a bolt of lightning.

"You…you're Grace Kingsley," he gasped shocked.

"And you are the genetic son of Adam Baylin and myself," she told him.

"What…what are you doing here?" Kyle managed to stutter.

"I came to see you," she replied.

"For what?" he asked her.

"I need to ask you a favor Kyle," she said. "Latnok would like to test your abilities and see what you're capable of one last time. We want to see how powerful you've become. After this I promise you we'll leave you alone."

Kyle shook his head. "No. I'm done with Latnok," he told her solemnly.

Kyle noticed her heart rate increase slightly as she got annoyed but her face didn't show any signs of it.

"May I ask why?" she asked him still smiling.

"Any chance of my cooperation you might have had was lost when your son broke into my house," he answered.

"Ah yes. Michael," she said shaking her head.

"Well Kyle I'm going to tell you something that Adam Baylin told you himself. Latnok is dedicated to the advancement of the human race. We are the good guys. We hid Adam from Zyzzyx and nursed him back to health when they almost killed him. We took care of him until he died. I know your brother has done much to tarnish our image in that spectacular mind of yours but I assure you we are on your side my son. Now Michael has been working in his own interests for years. After he broke into your house we expelled him. Michael Cassidy Kingsley is not the face of Latnok."

Kyle didn't believe a word she said. He told her, "The last time I saw Adam he told me how disillusioned he was with how his and Latnok's beliefs had drifted apart. Maybe Latnok used to be a noble organization at one point of time but now people like you and your son have made it corrupt. I know Cassidy was working with you Grace. He even told me while he was electrocuting me that you wanted him to do it. He also told me that if it was up to you Latnok would have complete control over my life and I would be nothing more than your experiment."

"Well then he was clearly lying," Grace said astounded by Cassidy's stupidity, her heart beating fast.

"No you're lying!" Kyle said angrily. "I can tell when people are lying to me Grace."

"I'm done with Latnok. I will never ever cooperate with an organization that uses kidnapping, blackmail, and murder to achieve their goals. I know what your son did to Sarah Emerson. And you're not my mother nor is Cassidy my brother. I already have a family. I don't want to be your science project anymore. Go home Grace and don't come back."

Grace was no longer smiling. Without saying a word she turned around and walked to the other side of the street where her car was waiting for her. She got into the backseat and Kyle watched as the car drove away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay I decided to try something new with this chapter. I wanted to write some action scenes with very detailed hand to hand combat. Like I wanted to describe everything that Kyle does while fighting to make it seem more realistic. So in this chapter a lot of stuff happens but the main stuff doesn't really start until the middle. Grace Kingsley is quite pissed off that Kyle rejected her proposal so she gets Cassidy to test him whether he likes it or not. **

Chapter 12

Grace Kingsley was furious at both her sons. She only considered one of them to be her sons, the other was nothing more than a science experiment. But her son's foolishness never ceased to amaze her. How could he actually tell the subject that she ordered him to hurt him? No wonder XY didn't trust her. His defiance though really aggravated Grace. He owed his very existence to her. A lot of effort, time, and money went into creating him and although the majority of the work was done by Adam Baylin the rest of Latnok, including her pitched in significantly. In her mind the boy was property of Latnok.

And now he was rebelling against those who gave helped give him life. Oh well. If he wasn't going to cooperate willingly then she had ways of making him perform. It was her idea that they kidnap Amanda on prom night and it worked beautifully. Even under stress XY managed to use his abilities well beyond everyone's expectations and get her back safely. And now she simply had to pull another stunt like that only this time all her clients would be watching. They would all see what he was capable of and she would make a colossal fortune selling his clones. She wouldn't let anyone stand in her way not even that bitch Sarah Emerson. She remembered the night that her son called her up and told her that Emerson was being a problem. Without any emotion she told him to get rid of her and get rid of the evidence. Sarah Emerson was similar to XY in that neither of them wanted to cooperate with Latnok. They both rebelled against the same people that brought them into the world and gave them their highly advanced brains. _Ungrateful brats_ she thought.

Declan decided to get out of his depression by playing some basketball. His ankle might not be able to handle a college level game but on the local neighborhood court he still had much respect. He played a bunch of pick up games for a while then it started raining and everyone left. But Declan stayed out in the rain and continued shooting hoops alone. His thoughts once again drifted to how much his life sucked. He had no interest in going to college for higher education. The only reason he wanted to go was so he could play for a real college team, make a name for himself, and maybe one day play in the NBA. He picked up the basketball which was now wet from all the rain and just looked at it for several seconds. _This is all I know_ he thought. _And now that I can't play it anymore I have nothing._ Declan angrily threw the ball at the backboard and it bounced off the metal. He just stayed out in the rain for a couple more minutes.

"Declan," he heard a voice behind him calling. He turned around and saw Tom Foss also standing in the rain without any sort of cover.

"Foss?" Declan was worried. "What's the matter? Is Kyle in trouble?"

"Relax he's fine. I actually wanted to talk to you." Foss said.

"Me? What do you want with me?" Declan asked confused.

"Declan, what are you planning to do with your life?" Foss asked him to his utter bewilderment. "Kyle told me you're not going to college."

Declan was now really confused. "Okay Foss what's this about?" he asked. "Why are you so interested in my life?"

"Because I have a job offer for you that I think you'd be very interested in." Foss said mysteriously. "But first I need to know if you have any commitments over the next two to three years."

_Commitments _Declan thought bitterly remembering Jackie telling him she wasn't looking for it. "No I definitely don't have any of those." Declan said. "Why what kind of job are we talking about here?"

"Mine." Foss answered.

Declan didn't say anything as he fully processed what Foss said. "So you want me to replace you as Kyle's body guard?" he asked hardly believing what he was hearing.

"I'm getting old." Foss told him. "I can't do this for another 20 years. At some point someone else is going to have to take over."

"Why me though? I mean what makes you think I'm right for this job?" Declan asked.

"I've seen how loyal you are to him. How close your bond is." Foss simply said. The friendship between Kyle and Declan reminded him of his own friendship with Adam Baylin although they met at a much older age.

"But I'm not trained for any of this." Declan said.

"So I'll train you." Foss replied.

Declan thought about it for a moment. _Fuck it it's not like I have anything better planned_.

"Well how much money are we talking about here? And who the hell is gonna pay me anyway?" Declan asked

"This isn't something you do for the money," Foss snapped. "But at first you'll be living off of Adam Baylin's fortune which alone is enough for the rest of your life. And then you'll be with Kyle so I'm sure he'll find ways to earn more money to support you and any family you might have in the future."

"Alright," Declan said slowly. "I'll do it."

Hours later in the evening Jessi was browsing through a car catalogue. She was trying to select a cheap car that would suit all of Josh's needs and unlike his old one this one would be brand spanking new, she decided. Jessi might have had a very busy schedule with all her community service that she had to do but she and Kyle could comfortably go for days without sleeping. And that gave her a lot of time. Jessi had many ways of earning a lot of money with that incredible brain of hers like the time she won around $1000 just from radio prizes so that Josh could take Andy to prom. Just then she heard Josh upstairs "NOOOOO!"

Of course Lori, Steven, and Nicole, ignored him knowing full well that it was something trivial but Jessi ran up the stairs and burst into his room to see what was wrong. "Whoa, what are you doing?" Josh asked jumping up and covering his computer screen.

"What's wrong?" she asked confused

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong Jessi, leave!" he said embarrassed.

Jessi caught a glimpse of what was on his screen before he jumped in front of it. SITE BLOCKED. Now Jessi understood why no one else in the house cared when he yelled. Jessi sighed and headed back downstairs when Josh stopped her.

"Jessi wait a minute."

"Yeah?"

"What do you got there?"

Jessi showed him "I'm looking at cars," she said.

Josh looked at her questioningly. "You're gonna buy a car? After wrecking mine?"

"It's for you," she replied.

"It is? Wow. That's…nice" he said surprised. "Can I see?"

She showed him the magazine.

"Jessi, these are all new cars," Josh explained. "We won't be able to afford a brand new car."

"I have ways of earning money," Jessi simply said.

"Oh yeah," Josh said remembering the night before when Jessi won all the games at the bar and won a whole bunch of money most of which she gave to Declan so he could get Jamie drunk.

"Yeah, I bet you know exactly which lottery ticket to buy after calculating some bullshit in your head." Josh said.

He then changed topic and said, "Call me slow but yesterday was like the first time I realized that you and Kyle are into each other."

"Yeah? So?" Jessi asked defensively. She really hated it when people had a problem with that.

"Nothing," he replied. "It just felt weird because he's my brother and you're kinda my sister. So what do I tell people? My brother and sister are dating?"

"You can tell them we're adopted," Jessi answered him. She was annoyed how everyone made such a big deal out of it but also happy that Josh considered her a sister now.

"Yeah, I guess. Um…look I'm sorry…for being a total dickwad."

Jessi looked confused.

"I haven't been very nice to you," he explained. "And I want to say I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she told him.

"Good because I need your help," he quickly said. "Can you get past this?" he asked pointing to the computer.

Jessi started moving towards the computer but stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"Well, I don't think that would be a very responsible thing for a sister to do," she said walking out of the room.

"Jessi that's so not funny!"

Sunday morning Kyle woke up very early as usual to go out for his morning run. Even though Foss no longer trained Kyle as rigorously as he used to, him and Jessi still made it a habit to run thirteen miles every other morning. Kyle went to wait outside of Jessi's room for her to come out when he realized he couldn't even sense her in the house. He opened her door and walked in to see if she had left a note or anything explaining where she might be this early in the morning. She didn't leave any clue to her whereabouts though. _I'll just run without her_ he decided.

As he stepped out of the house he stared in awe at the incredibly thick fog that covered most of the city. It was so thick he couldn't even see forty feet in front of him. He started his run through the neighborhood. No living human besides Jessi could sustain the pace he was running at for thirteen whole miles. While he ran he thought about Grace Kingsley. She looked pretty upset that he didn't cooperate with her. He wondered if she would send Cassidy to harm him or his family again. He ran for about thirty minutes through Seattle until he was on the outskirts of town. _It's not really safe to run in this fog _he thought to himself since he was no longer running on sidewalk and a car would not be able to see him running. As he was running on a lonely road that was surrounded by trees on both sides he heard several voices talking a few hundred meters in front of him.

_What would anyone be doing on this road out of their car this early in the morning? _Kyle wondered. Kyle continued running towards the voices. As he got closer he saw several figures through the fog standing near a car parked on the side of the road and probably another one in front of it judging by the number of voices he heard. _Maybe their vehicle broke down _he thought. He would be glad to help them out. He continued running towards them when all of a sudden one of the figures shouted "Hey there he is, get him!"

Kyle froze. Had he just heard correctly? Suddenly the air was filled with loud cracking noises. _Gunshots!_ Kyle thought as he turned around and made a run for it. He felt something painfully hit him in the shoulder but he kept going.

"Get in the car!" he heard one of the men saying. As fast as he could run he knew he wouldn't be able to outrun a car so he got off the road and ran into the woods. As he ran he heard the two cars stop by the side of the road right where he got off and heard the men getting out. Kyle reached over to the back of his shoulder to feel where the bullet hit when he was surprised to find that there was no blood. There was however a big painful knot.

_So it wasn't a real bullet_ he thought. That meant that whoever this was they were trying to capture him and not kill him. He had a pretty good idea who it was. Last time when Latnok kidnapped Amanda on prom night they used a rubber bullet on him, which didn't really cause any major damage but it hurt like hell…

_This must be another one of their tests_. _Why can't they just leave me alone? _Kyle thought angrily as he ran through the woods. Then he remembered Grace. _She must have sent them because I wouldn't willingly participate in her tests._ Kyle felt incredible rage towards his biological mother. First she sent Cassidy to do all her dirty work. When he wasn't enough she sent these men armed with guns to shoot him with rubber bullets. _If she wants to know what I'm capable of then I'll show her. _Unknown to Kyle, however, there was an unmanned remote controlled aircraft in the sky that was watching everything that was -happening with a thermal imaging camera to see through the fog. It was sending this to the secret location where Cassidy had arranged for all his clients to meet again to see their live demonstration. They were all watching to see if Kyle could defeat the ten men that they sent by himself.

The men began combing the woods for any sign of Kyle. As they searched for him Kyle observed them from the top of a tree. He noticed there was something different about the way they talked. Some of them had American accents but others had foreign sounding ones like maybe from an Asian country...he wasn't really sure. They didn't seem at all like the type to work for an organization like Latnok. _Maybe Latnok hired them,_ he thought. Luckily for him none of them could see all the way up to the top of the tree thanks to the thick fog.

"Where'd he go?" he heard one of the men asking in his strange accent. "I dunno. Maybe he's on top of one of these trees," another replied sounding American. Kyle decided he was done hiding from them. As much as he hated to use violence he had to fight. Grace and Cassidy had gone way too far. First they kidnapped Amanda, then Cassidy killed Sarah, then Cassidy attacked him in his own house, then he kidnapped him, and now Grace was sending these new people to capture him. He jumped down from the tree and landed right behind one of the men.

The man turned around surprised and tried to point his gun at Kyle but he was too quick for him. Kyle disarmed him in an instant just like Foss taught him. He slapped the inside of his wrist and the back of his hand causing him to drop the gun. The man stared at Kyle looking shocked. Kyle looked the man in the eye and said "I'm sorry," then he punched him in the face with enough force to knock him out. As soon as the man fell on the ground Kyle jumped back up into the tree. He waited until one of the other men came across the unconscious body. He didn't see it at first because the fog was so thick and they were all spread out several feet apart. But when he did he stopped in his tracks.

"Oh my god," he gasped. Just then Kyle landed behind him without making a sound and hit in on the back of the head. The man grunted and fell down out cold but the noise had alerted all the other men.

"What the hell was that?" "It came from over there, go check it out." Three of them came walking out of the fog just as Kyle jumped back up in the tree. "Hey is that a body on the ground?" one of them asked. The men immediately ran over to where their friends were laying. "What the hell happened to them?" one of the men said speaking in Mandarin Chinese for the first time. It was just another language that Kyle had learned well.

"Hey! What…the…fuck…is…that?" one of them said in American English pointing to a large football sized rock that was somehow floating in the air. All three of the men stared at it unsure if what they were seeing was some kind of an optical illusion or not. They didn't notice when Kyle jumped down behind them without any sound. He hit one of the men in the back of the head who grunted loudly before he fell to the ground. The other two turned around immediately but Kyle had already dropped down and he swept one of men's legs from under him causing him to fall. The third man pointed the gun at Kyle and was just about to shoot when the rock flew at him and slammed him in the back hard knocking him down. Kyle quickly rendered them unconscious as well.

Unfortunately all this had made a lot of noise and attracted the others' attention. Before Kyle could jump back up the tree he heard several gunshots and felt a rubber bullet hit him in the stomach taking the wind out of him and pushing him on the ground. He saw several people running towards him through the fog. He managed to get back on his feet and started running away. He heard another gunshot and yelled in pain as another rubber bullet him in the thigh causing him to stumble and fall down. "I got him!" one of the men yelled in Chinese.

Kyle was sick of running he turned around and used mental abilities to lift the man up and send him flying into a tree painfully. He then got back on his feet and jumped really high into the air just as two more men came running out of the fog. They looked around confused wondering where Kyle had gone. Suddenly he landed in between them startling them. They both immediately pulled their guns up but Kyle moved with lightning speed. He immediately disarmed the man standing in front of him and quickly elbowed the man behind him in the face before he could shoot. He then gave the man in front a palm strike to the face taking him down as well. Kyle then once again jumped really high into a tree to asses the situation. All of the men Kyle had taken down seemed to be Chinese. Some had American accents while other's sounded like they just recently came over. There were two cars so there had to be a maximum of ten men. He had already taken out eight. So there had to be at the most two more. The fog was starting to clear up now. That meant he would lose his cover. He had to find and take them down quickly. He concentrated on increasing his hearing but he didn't hear anymore movement in the woods.

_They must be in their cars_ he thought. Using the fog as cover Kyle jumped from tree to tree heading in the direction of the road until he saw the two cars parked on the road below him. He jumped over them and landed on side opposite of where the drivers were anxiously looking waiting for their friends to come out. Neither of them had had realized he was now behind them. Kyle opened the passenger side door of the car in the back and got in. The driver in the front car didn't even notice.

"Hey what the hell?" the driver shouted. Kyle gave him a solid punch to the face knocking him out cold. Kyle grabbed the drivers gun and quickly got out of the car and ran up to the car in front. The second driver noticed him this time. He got out of the car and pointed his gun at Kyle but Kyle fired his gun with perfect accuracy not at the man but at his gun sending it flying out of his hands. Kyle pointed the gun at the man's face. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Fuck you!" the driver replied.

"Okay lets do this a different way," Kyle said impatiently tossing the gun away. "I have the ability to move water with my mind. I can do the same to your blood. I can make certain areas swell up and certain ones shrink. I can make every capillary explode. Is that what you want?"

Of course Kyle wasn't going to do any of this. He wasn't at all like Jessi in this way. He hated violence and when forced to fight he preferred to knock his opponents out quickly and with as little pain as possible. But he wanted to scare the man and make him think he could do it. So he moved some of his blood around concentrating them in certain areas not really hurting the man but making him realize that if he did want to hurt him he could do it pretty seriously.

"Okay, okay we were supposed to kick your ass while this remote controlled plane watches the whole thing from above!"

Kyle was stunned. A UAV had watched everything that he had done? He couldn't believe it. Grace had gotten him to unknowingly participate in her test. Far away in the secret location all the guests were getting up to leave. They were very satisfied with their live demonstration. They were quite impressed to see what Kyle was capable of and they were all looking forward to buying clones of him.

"Gentlemen before you go," Cassidy told them, "be sure to thank Mr. Han Chung. It was his men that were used in this demonstration."

Han Chung was one of the most powerful criminal bosses in not only China but the world. He was incredibly wealthy and could find many uses for the clones to make him wealthier. He smiled and shook hands with everybody as they thanked him for using his own men as guinea pigs for the demo.

Cassidy called up his mother.

"Hello, Michael darling. Did the guests get their demonstration?" she asked.

"Yes mother. Mr. Chung proved to be quite useful to us and so was that unmanned plane that you built. All the guests are highly impressed."

"Excellent," she said smiling. Everything was going according to plan. "Now we can focus on the actual cloning process."

**Okay well there it is. Please review and let me know what you thought about it. Yeah I know that Kyle isn't really the type to use violence like this but you gotta understand that everybody has a breaking point and Kyle tolerated a LOT from Latnok. After all the stuff they did to him he just couldn't take it anymore and decided to fight back. I plan to write more scenes like this in future chapters. Let me know what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Kyle has to figure out the connection between Grace Kingsley and these new people who attacked him. Kyle and Jessi get into a little argument and Steven and Nicole find out what Kyle and his friends did on Friday night and they get pretty mad about it. But not nearly as mad as Kyle when he finds out what they've been keeping from him.  
**

Chapter 13

"Did Latnok send you?" Kyle asked the man in front of him.

"Latnok? Who the hell is that?" was the answer.

"Who sent you then? Who do you work for?" Kyle asked him curious.

The man looked scared. "I'm not going to tell you that! They'll kill me, please, I'm sorry I was just doing my job…" he was still under the impression that Kyle would torture him by moving his blood around.

Kyle could tell how terrified the man was of his employers by how fast his heart was beating. He was disappointed. He really hoped he could get more information out of this man but being the good person that he was he didn't want any harm to come to him for cooperating.

"Look I'm not going to torture you I just wanted to scare you," he told the man. "But if that plane is still up there then it's watching me and you talk and whoever is watching is going to assume you gave me information. So you might as well tell me who sent you and then go into hiding because they're going to be coming for you whether you tell me or not."

The man's eyes widened with terror. He kept looking around him nervously as if expecting some sniper to shoot him just as he was about to talk like in the movies.

"Okay," he finally said. "I'm a Triad. Me and my buddies were ordered to wait for you here. We were told not to kill you and they gave us these rubber bullets. Other than that I don't know anything. They never tell us any guys on the bottom any important information so we can't rat them out."

_Triads? What does a Chinese criminal syndicate want with me? Did Latnok even have anything to do with this attack?_ Kyle wondered.

"Does your organization have a specific name?" Kyle asked him. "And why do you sound like you're from here?"

"My organization has gone global," the man explained. "There's a branch in almost every city on the west coast. I was born and raised in Seattle. But I can't tell you what organization I work for. I'm sorry."

"Why not?" Kyle demanded.

"Because they're anyway going to kill me for talking to you," he said simply. "But if I tell you anymore they might also kill my family. I'm sorry I can't let that happen."

Kyle understood. He felt sorry for the man.

"Thank you," he told him. "Now get your family and move out of Seattle" he advised him.

The man looked at him gratefully. Without saying a word he jumped into his car and drove away. _I have to find more of these Triads so I can find out why they attacked me. _He walked over to the second car and opened the driver's side door. As he pulled the unconscious driver out of the car he noticed the tattoo on his cheek. Every one of the others also had a similar tattoo. It was some Chinese letter that Kyle had yet to understand. Perhaps it would be a clue for finding out which organization they worked for. He knew how to speak the language but he hadn't learned how to read it yet.

Kyle got into the car and drove home. Because everything had happened so early it was only 7 AM by the time Kyle got home. Since it was Sunday, Steven and Nicole would just be getting up at this time while Josh and Lori would sleep a few more hours. Kyle didn't want them to know what happened so he parked the car next to the curb a few houses away.

Kyle walked into his house and was greeted by Jessi.

"Hi," she said

"Where were you this morning?" Kyle asked her annoyed. He could have really used her help in fighting those men.

"I decided to go for my run a little early," she answered.

"Without me?" he asked a little hurt. Then he noticed that she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday and they were definitely not her workout clothes.

"Then why are you wearing the same clothes from yesterday?" he asked suspiciously. He already knew Jessi was lying but her heart beat faster to confirm his suspicions.

"Okay I didn't really go for a run this morning." Jessi confessed. "I…went to a casino."

"What?" he asked surprised. He clearly didn't expect this. "Why? You're not even old enough to gamble."

"Kyle, it's really not that hard for you and me to make a fake I.D." she told him smiling.

"But…why?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to win some money to buy Josh a car. So I played the slot machines. And I was really good at it. I won $20,000!" she told him excitedly.

Kyle was impressed. "Jessi, that's incredible," he said temporarily forgetting about everything else that had happened earlier that morning. "That's a lot of money."

"I know," Jessi said smiling. She looked very proud of herself like the time she was the mystery jumper back in high school. "You and I should go there together. We could win so much money!"

"No Jessi. It's good that you won money to buy Josh's car but you can't do this again" Kyle told her sternly.

"Why not? Kyle, with our abilities it's so easy to win!" she said not understanding why he would be against this.

"Jessi, because it's illegal for someone our age to gamble," he simply said.

"But isn't it also illegal for someone our age to drink?" she asked him starting to get annoyed herself and talking a little too loud.

"Well I didn't want you to do that either but you did anyway" he reminded her.

"No but you didn't mind if Declan and Josh did," she replied defensively. "Josh is even younger than me, Kyle!"

"I don't believe this," they both heard Nicole saying. They turned around and saw her standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at them in disbelief.

_Uh oh_ Kyle and Jessi thought simultaneously. "Nicole I can explain," Kyle started but Nicole held her hand up to stop him.

"No. I don't want to hear any explanation. I trusted you Kyle. This is something I can expect from Josh and Declan, but you, I never expected this from you…"

"But Nicole I promise you I didn't get drunk. I was sober the whole time!" Kyle tried to make her understand.

"He's telling the truth, Nicole" Jessi said trying to support him. "He had to be to drive us back safely."

"Drive you back from where?" Nicole asked furious.

Kyle couldn't lie anymore. "It's a bar that lets underage people in if you pay extra," he said reluctantly.

"I can't believe this," Nicole said shaking her head looking extremely disappointed.

Steven came down the stairs. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Kyle, Jessi, Josh, and Declan went to a bar somewhere in this city that apparently lets underage people in." Nicole explained to him.

"Wow that place is still open? I can't believe they haven't been caught yet…" Steven thought out loud when he noticed Nicole glaring at him. Steven quickly turned to Kyle. "Kyle your mother and I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed we are. I can understand if Josh did something like this, but you, I don't even know what to say," he said repeating Nicole's words. Kyle looked down at the ground in shame. "Since when do you and Jessi even drink?" Steven asked.

"I didn't drink," Kyle explained. "I was the driver."

"And you?" Steven asked Jessi.

Jessi looked incredibly nervous and didn't say anything which Steven saw as a yes. His fatherly instincts made him furious. He was very protective of his daughter and didn't even want to imagine what Jessi might have done when she was drunk. "You're both grounded," he told them. "As soon as you're done showering and eating breakfast you're both going straight to your rooms."

Kyle and Jessi walked to their respective rooms without saying anything. Just before they parted ways in the hallway Jessi whispered, "I'm so sorry, Kyle."

Kyle really wasn't upset at Jessi. He had no one to blame but himself. _This is entirely my fault,_ he thought to himself. He had broken Nicole's trust and caused her so much emotional pain. He could see it in her eyes. How could be betray his foster mother like that when she took him into her house risking her career in the process? How could he betray her when she still accepted him as her son even after she knew what he was and all the danger he attracted? He thought about all the times he upset her this week.

He remembered what she said about him changing into a different person and how she didn't like it. He wondered what she would say if she found out that him and Jessi had been making out quite intensely for much of Friday night once they got to Declan's house. He couldn't bear to tell her that. At that moment it seemed that nothing else mattered. The fact that he was attacked this morning by international gangsters was nothing compared to this. He had broken his mother's heart. He sat in his tub feeling incredibly sad. Wallow central, as Amanda called it. He never hated himself more than right now.

_Kyle…_he heard a voice in his head that wasn't his.

"Hello?" he said looking around him. _Kyle it's me…_

"Jessi? Where are you?" he asked confused.

_I'm in my room.. I think I just learned how to talk telepathically. _Jessi said in her mind.

Kyle knew that he and Jessi could somewhat communicate telepathically by sending emotions and images into each other's minds like the time when Kyle got into a car accident with Nicole and Josh and called Jessi for help. But this was incredible. Jessi was able to communicate with him as clearly as if she was standing in front of him and talking.

"How can you do that?" he asked.

_I don't know. I could sense how upset you were so I just tried to hear your thoughts and I did. You try it._

Kyle focused his mind. _Jessi, can you hear me?_

He couldn't see it but he could feel Jessi smiling. _Yes! Yes I can hear you._

But the excitement of just having learned a new ability quickly died down. Kyle sighed. _Look Jessi, if you don't mind I really want to be alone right now._ Quickly anticipating Jessi's reply he added _And I mean alone in my mind too._

_You mad at me…_Jessi thought sadly.

_Jessi don't worry I'm not mad at you _Kyle reassured her.

_But this is my fault. If I hadn't argued with you then Nicole wouldn't have found out what we did that night._

_Jessi I'm not upset that Nicole found out. I'm upset that we broke her trust in the first place. You saw how sad she looked. She really trusted me Jessi and I broke that trust._

_Okay Kyle, I'll leave you alone._

Kyle then pulled out his cellphone that he repaired. He called up Tom Foss.

"Hello, Kyle?"

"Foss, earlier this morning when I was going out for a run I was attacked."

"Attacked?" Foss gasped. "What happened?"

"They were Chinese Triads," Kyle answered. "I managed to fight them off but one of them told me that the whole thing was being watched."

"Triads?" Foss asked incredulously.

"Yes but I think they're somehow connected to Cassidy and Grace." Kyle said. "And speaking of her, I met her yesterday."

"You did? Where?" Foss asked him.

"She was right outside my house. She asked me to participate in one last experiment but I refused. I think she sent those men."

"Kyle something still doesn't seem right about this." Foss told him. "Why would Latnok work with a Chinese crime syndicate when they have their own men to do the job?"

Kyle thought about this. "Maybe both parties have a mutual interest in me."

"That's exactly what I think. Maybe Cassidy found the formula for the fluid after all. Maybe he has everything he needs to clone you. And maybe these Triads are very interested in buying those clones from him but they first want to see what you are capable of." Foss said.

"But I destroyed all of Adam's notes. I destroyed the only disc that Cassidy had backed up the information on." Kyle said not wanting to believe that Foss's theory was true.

"How can you be so sure that he didn't copy that data on another disc?" Foss asked him.

"He was desperate enough to attack me in my own house and then kidnap me the next day." Kyle answered. "I don't think he would have gone through all that if he just had another disc."

"Kyle…how exactly did Jessi say she got you back?" Foss asked curious.

"She said she chased him until she managed to stop his car by shutting off his spark plugs." Kyle told him. "She didn't really get into much detail."

"She's lying," Foss said. "I know because I was waiting for her to come home with you. Instead your parents went out and brought her back home alone. I'm guessing she trashed her car."

Kyle couldn't believe it. Jessi had lied to him and he didn't even realize it. He didn't understand why she would do it. And Nicole and Steven were apparently in on it as well.

"Why would they all lie to me?" Kyle asked Foss on the phone.

"Maybe because they know you wouldn't approve of how they got you back." Foss suggested. "Kyle don't you think that it's possible that Jessi might have given Cassidy the information he needed that's stored inside your head in exchange for your release?"

Kyle was too speechless for words. _It can't be true_ he thought to himself. _Jessi would never do something like that_ but even as he thought this he could feel her listening to his thoughts and he could feel her nervousness. He hung up the phone and jumped out of his tub and walked out of his room burning with anger. He walked down the hallway where he met an awake Josh and Lori.

"Dude I can't believe you and Jessi ratted us out!" Josh said angrily.

"And I can't believe you guys didn't take me with you!" Lori said equally upset.

But Kyle didn't have time for this. He walked passed his siblings completely ignoring them. They looked at each other puzzled and then followed him all the way to Jessi's room. He pushed the door open saw her looking at him expectantly. Her face white with fear and her brown eyes were bigger than ever.

**Don't worry. Kyle's not gonna break up with Jessi. **


	14. Chapter 14

**It is SO good to finally get a review. Sorry about the cliffhangers Faith I know they're frustrating but I try to update as frequently as possible. I know Julie Plec meant for Kyle and Jessi to break up after a while but yeah…that's not gonna happen here. Anyway in this chapter Kyle confronts Jessi and later he tries to track down Cassidy.**

Chapter 14

"Why?" he asked her with his voice full of rage. "Why did you do it Jessi?"

She looked so scared. "I...I didn't want…to lose you," she tried to explain but that wasn't good enough.

"Jessi, do you have any idea what kind of people he's going to sell my clones to?" Kyle asked her furiously thinking of the Triads.

"He said he was going to kill you, I didn't have a choice! Kyle you have to listen to me, please!" she implored.

Behind them Josh and Lori looked at each other confused.

"Okay guys what's going on?" Lori asked them to do her big sister counseling.

"Jessi gave Cassidy the final ingredient he needed to make clones of me." Kyle told her frustrated.

"Whoa, hold up. Mom told me Cassidy was trying to make more people like you but now he wants to clone you? That's just creepy." Lori said.

Josh had a look of amazement on his face. "An army of superhuman Kyle clones to take over the world?" he wondered out loud. "That's brilliant!"

Kyle sighed and nodded his head. "That is one possibility," he admitted. "Another is that they'll never take them out of the tank and use their brains like a very advanced computer."

"Well Kyle, Jessi said that Cassidy was going to kill you, so she really didn't have any choice did she?" Lori told Kyle trying to make him understand Jessi's point of view.

But Kyle didn't understand. "Of course she had a choice," he said angrily. "She knew that I would have rather died than give Cassidy that information but she gave it to him anyway."

Jessi decided to speak up. "Kyle I'm sorry, but only for not telling you the truth all along. I'm still not sorry for what I did to save you," she said.

Kyle had never been angrier with Jessi. "How can you be so selfish Jessi? I know you care about me a lot but how can you choose me over the rest of the world or those poor clones? There's no telling how much damage Cassidy can do by selling them to the wrong people! You only care about your own loss!" he shouted at her.

"He would have killed you, you idiot!" Jessi shouted back. She was crying now.

"So? I would have been fine with that Jessi you know that!"

"But we wouldn't," Steven said. Kyle turned around and noticed his parents standing there for the first time. "And you have no right to yell at her like that, Kyle, when anyone including you would have done the same thing in her place." They both stood beside Jessi and put their hands on her shoulder to show their support for her.

Lori agreed with them. "Yeah, Kyle, look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing if me, or Josh, or Amanda had been kidnapped."

Kyle wanted to deny it but he couldn't. He loved his family so much he would do anything to bring them back home safely. Even give Cassidy the information in his head and not just the formula for the fluid. All the information if it meant his family could come home unharmed. "I…I…would do the same thing…" he admitted, "but there's a difference!" he said desperately.

"Oh really what's the difference Kyle? Is your life worth less than ours?" Nicole asked him.

"No but I would have wanted to die to prevent Cassidy from getting that information," Kyle tried to explain to her.

"Dude we don't care what you would have wanted," Josh said also defending Jessi. "If I could kick ass like Jessi I would have saved you whether you liked it or not. You really don't have a choice in the matter Kyle."

By now all four family members were standing next to Jessi and holding her while she cried. Kyle felt like a complete jerk. How could he yell at her like that and call her selfish when he would have done the same thing for her. As much as he wanted to deny it, Lori was right. He would have chosen Jessi's safety and put the rest of the world in danger even though he knew it was illogical to do so and he would have done it whether she wanted him to or not. He would have let his feelings for Jessi get in the way of his rational thinking just like Jessi did. "Why do people have these emotions that cause us to make such irrational decisions?" Kyle wondered out loud trying his best not to cry but it was quite obvious to his family that he was trying too hard.

The rest of the family hugged him. "Those emotions are what make you human," Nicole gently explained to him. "They're the reason why you could never be the computer that Zyzzyx wanted you to be."

"But now so many people like me are going to end up like that." Kyle said sadly.

"Not if you stop Cassidy," Josh told him.

"It's too late," Kyle said shaking his head. "Cassidy and Grace have everything they need. They could be anywhere in the world right now. There's no way we can find them," he said defeated.

"Bro if there's one thing I learned from you it's that there's always a solution to even the craziest situations and the best way for you to find it is for you and Jessi to kiss and make up, put your heads together, and do what you two do best…think." Josh said trying to motivate his brother.

Realizing that Josh was right Kyle turned to Jessi and gave her his heartfelt apology. "I'm so sorry Jessi. I would have done the same exact thing for you. Please forgive me."

"It's partly my fault," Jessi said wiping off his tears while he did the same for her. "I shouldn't have kept this from you. Let's make a promise that we'll never lie to each other again."

"I promise that I'll never lie to you Jessi," Kyle told her.

"And I promise I'll never ever lie to you again Kyle." Jessi told him sincerely.

"And while you're at it promise us you won't lie to us either," Steven told them.

Kyle and Jessi stayed silent awkwardly. Luckily Kyle's phone started vibrating just in the nick of time. He looked at it and saw it was a text message from Declan telling him to come to Foss's warehouse.

"We have to go, Foss needs us," Kyle said quickly and ran out of the house pulling Jessi with him.

As Kyle and Jessi ran over there together Kyle told Jessi everything that had happened from when he met Grace Kingsley to when he was attacked a few hours ago. Jessi felt guilty that she was out at the casino playing games all night till early morning while Kyle battled a new enemy. They also practiced communicating telepathically. They both realized that it was a more advanced type of communication because not only could they 'talk' in words but they could send each other images of what they saw instead of having to describe it in words. As Kyle was showing Jessi the images of all the Triads he fought she thought suddenly _Hey I've seen that tattoo before._

Kyle was intrigued. _Where? _he asked.

_At the casino _Jessi replied. _There were a lot of Asian men who had that tattoo on their cheeks exactly like the guys you showed me._

_Jessi, that's a good lead. We'll have to check that out later. _Kyle thought to her as they arrived at Foss's warehouse. Just before Kyle opened the door he wondered to Jessi _I wonder why Declan called us and not Foss. _Jessi shrugged and walked in first while Kyle followed her. Inside he saw Foss and Declan waiting for them.

"Declan, Foss, what's going on?" he asked them.

Declan told him about Foss's job offer. "Get this Kyle, Foss here is going to train me to be your body guard."

Kyle smiled thinking it was a joke but when neither Declan nor Foss returned the smile he realized they were being serious.

Kyle didn't really know what to say "Declan…look…I appreciate how loyal you are to me…but what you're getting into…can be really dangerous. You saw what happened to Foss when we broke into Madacorp," he said. "Besides where's Foss going?" he asked looking at Foss.

"I'm not going anywhere Kyle but I can't protect you forever. Some day Declan will take over," Foss told him.

"Kyle, come on," Declan protested, "I'm already practically your sidekick. I'm with you whenever you need to do some secret shit you don't want anybody else to know about. I've been helping you sneak around for two fucked up years. Remember when we broke into Foss's apartment together?" he reminded Kyle and looked at Foss who frowned, "And like you said I helped you break into Madacorp and hurt my ankle in the process, and then we broke into Cassidy's apartment just a few days ago to steal that disc."

"Kyle relax, Declan's not just going to replace me over night. His training will take years to complete and even when it's done he'll be working by my side for a long time. He's going to stick with us for ten, maybe even fifteen years and then when I retire he can take over. But I'm not going to send him off on some mission by himself when he's not adequately trained for." Foss explained to him.

"Look Kyle, what the fuck else am I gonna do with my life?" Declan asked frustrated. "I can't play ball anymore and I don't want to go to college just to learn stuff and someday take over my dad's company like my family has been planning for me. I've been avoiding that shit my whole life and basketball was my ticket but now that it's gone I got nothing."

Kyle sighed. "Are you sure you know what you're getting into Declan?" he asked his friend.

"Yeah of course I do, I've been doing this with you unofficially for two years, now I'll finally get paid," Declan said cockily.

Kyle was glad to have Declan on the team. "Alright but I'm warning you my life can be pretty hectic," he said smiling.

"Yeah like I don't already know asshole," Declan replied.

Jessi was happy too. She hugged him and told him what he told her back in his house. "Welcome to the family."

Then they all sat down and talked. Jessi told them how she got Kyle back while Kyle told them how he met Grace Kingsley and how was attacked with rubber bullets while jogging. They then discussed how they could find Cassidy and Grace.

"How did you find their place last time?" Declan asked.

"We hacked into a satellite and used a thermal imaging scan to find large quantities of fluid stored at a specified temperature that we estimated the bio-fluid to be at," Jessi explained.

"Well can't you do that again?" Declan asked.

Kyle shook his head. "Last time we only scanned Seattle. This time it could be anywhere in the world. It could even be underground where the satellite can't see it."

"What about that other guy who was helping Cassidy?" Foss asked.

"Nate," Jessi hissed with disgust.

"Maybe there's someone at the university who has a way of contacting him," Foss suggested. "Once we find him he can lead us to Cassidy."

"If we can call Nate up and keep him on the phone long enough we might be able to trace the call to whatever city he's in and that would narrow down our search considerably." Kyle said agreeing with Foss. "I'll ask Mark right now," he said pulling out his cellphone.

He called up Mark.

"Hey Kyle, what's going on?" Mark asked

"Mark I need to get in touch with Nate. Do you have his number?"

"Nate's gone man. He changed his phone number and everything. He just disappeared. Believe me we've been trying every way to contact him." Mark told Kyle. "I'm sorry I can't help you buddy."

"Oh okay, no problem Mark," Kyle said disappointed and hung up.

"Nate's unreachable," he told the others.

"Kyle, what about the casino?" Jessi reminded him. "I saw guys with that tattoo all over the place. It's probably owned by them."

Kyle remembered what the man he spared told him. _They never give us guys on the bottom any important information so we can't rat them out._ As he remembered his conversation with the man he remembered another important clue. _The car!_

"The lower ranking men won't know anything," he told them. "If we want any information we'll have to capture the manager of the casino himself. And that won't be easy. But before we try that we do have another lead." He told them about how he drove home in one of the Triad's cars.

"We can track down the owner's address from the license plate or the VIN number," Jessi said excitedly.

Declan then gave Kyle a ride back to the neighborhood so Kyle could bring the car back to the warehouse. Kyle and Jessi tracked down the owner's address by hacking into the DMV's database. Once they got the address they all got into Declan's car and drove over there.

"Well here we are," Declan said as he parked the car in front of the house. He turned to Kyle and Jessi and anxiously said, "I'm ready to kick some ass!"

Foss rolled his eyes. "Shut up. All of you stay behind me and let me handle this."

They stayed in the car while Foss walked up to the door and rang the bell. After waiting thirty seconds Foss rang the bell again. When no one answered Foss tried opening the door and luckily it was unlocked. He turned towards the car and motioned for them to follow him which they did. Foss pulled out his gun.

Once they were all inside the house, Foss made them wait near the door while he checked the inside of the house room by room. Kyle, Jessi, and Declan didn't make a sound while Foss moved around the house in total silence. Finally Foss came out of the bedroom and said to Kyle, "You might want to see this."

Kyle and the others went into the man's bedroom and saw him sprawled out on his bed. His face was still pretty bruised up from when Kyle fought back against him. But more importantly there was a gunshot wound in the man's chest. It was Declan's first time seeing death and he was a little creeped out by how the man's eyes were still open. _Whoever did this can also do the same to me. _Declan thought nervously. _I could end up like this guy. _But Declan couldn't hold that thought for long because there was a disgusting yet familiar smell in the air. Declan sniffed and grimaced. "Gross! Did he seriously…"

"Yeah," Foss answered him before he could finish asking. "You don't really see that part on T.V."

**In case you guys are wondering what Declan and Foss were talking about, when people die they basically crap themselves if they're holding anything in there. Sorry if you didn't know that but it is true. Anyway I'm thinking of bringing Amanda back into this story. She is a really important character on the show even if she's not with Kyle anymore and I really want her and Jessi to make amends. I also want to concentrate on the other characters like Mark and Andy but I don't know how to bring them in without a romance scene with the Trager siblings and I SUCK at writing romance scenes.**


	15. Chapter 15

**This chapter has a Kyle/Jessi moment at the end. I uh don't really like saying Kessi because honestly it reminds me of a killer whale. Sorry. Anyway it took me long as hell just to write that one romance scene and I don't know if it's any good or not. I had to use my own conversations with my girlfriend but I had to change the words to make it seem like it was Kyle and Jessi talking. Anyway I gave it my best shot please review if you like it.**

Chapter 15

Kyle, Jessi, and Declan stared at the dead Chinese guy in front of them. They were too late, Kyle realized. When that remote controlled plane saw Kyle leaving with the car who ever was watching probably knew that it wouldn't be too hard for Kyle to track down the owner's address so they decided to kill him to prevent him from talking. They even blotched out the tattoo on his cheek. Kyle hoped that the man he didn't beat up didn't suffer the same fate.

Kyle looked at Jessi and Declan. Jessi's face was pale and scared looking but Kyle knew that it wasn't her first time seeing death… Declan on the other hand looked like he was going to throw up. "How can you stand that smell?" he asked Kyle in amazement since neither Kyle nor Jessi seemed to be affected by it.

"Just block it out," Kyle replied.

"Yeah easy for you to say super-brain," Declan scoffed. He then turned to Jessi and said, "I take it this is your first time seeing a dead guy too."

"No," Jessi said without taking her eyes off the body. She was reliving some extremely unpleasant memories right now and Kyle didn't even dare look into her thoughts.

Declan knew better than to ask when Jessi had seen a dead guy before so he turned to Kyle and asked him, "What about you?"

"Believe it or not, the first memory I ever had, even before I woke up in the woods, was of Foss killing Professor Kurn," Kyle told his friend.

Declan shook his head in disbelief, "Wow imagine seeing something like that so early in your life. Outside of the tank I mean," he added since Kyle was technically as old as he was even though he wasn't 'born' until two years ago.

"It's not very pleasant," Jessi agreed with him finally looking away from the body.

"We should probably look for anything that might give us a clue about his organization," Kyle suggested.

"Don't touch anything," Foss warned. "If they find your fingerprints in this place you're fucked. And make it snappy. We don't want to be caught here."

Kyle and Jessi walked around the house looking for anything that might tell them where to look next but careful not to touch anything.

"Hey guys I found his wallet," Declan said.

They all went to see what he was talking about. The Triad had left his wallet along with the other contents of his pocket on his dining table. Most of it was useless stuff. Declan moved to pick up the wallet when Foss grabbed his hand.

"I said don't touch anything!" Foss growled.

"Don't worry I can open it without touching," Jessi said glad she got her chance to show off. She concentrated and made the wallet float a few inches into the air. She then opened it and caused all the contents to slide out and float in the air next to the wallet.

"Look at this," Kyle said pointing to some kind of card. He read it. It was definitely a security clearance card. It had the man's photo, name, and a bunch of other information. Kyle flipped the card around and read, "The Heavenly Golden Dragon Casino." He turned to Jessi. "Is that where you went?"

She nodded her head. "I was right. They do own the place. Whoever they sent that did this wasn't too thorough if they left all this behind."

"We should probably go and check that place out," Kyle told Foss.

"Well not now," Jessi said. "They're closed right now. They open back up at 8 PM."

"Great," Kyle muttered frustrated. He had to find Cassidy as soon as possible before he could start the cloning process.

"Kyle, don't worry," Jessi soothed him. "We have plenty time. Cassidy only got the formula four days ago. It'll take him at least a week to manufacture the bio-fluid that's required for just one pod."

"Okay we need to get out of here" Foss said with a sense of urgency.

As soon as they left the house Foss took some kind of spray out of his coat pocket and sprayed it on the door knob and the door bell. He then pulled out a rag and wiped it.

"What's he doing?" Declan asked amazed that someday he would be able to do all this cool stuff.

"He's getting rid of the fingerprints," Kyle explained to him.

They all drove back to the warehouse. Foss asked Kyle, "Why don't you show me those bullet wounds?"

Kyle took off his shirt. Jessi and Declan immediately grimaced and looked away. Kyle looked down at his stomach and saw why. A large, swollen, deep purple, bruise had formed where the bullets hit him. They were surrounded by dried blood showing that he was bleeding from them at some point. It looked really painful. There was another on the back of his shoulder and another one on his leg. Foss of course wasn't fazed, he'd seen it all.

"Good thing they were only rubber," he told Kyle. "Go home and try to heal them but don't over exhaust yourself. We'll meet up here again in the evening."

He turned to Jessi. "You should probably get some sleep if you've been up all night gambling. You'll need your brain to function at its best," he advised her.

Declan drove Kyle and Jessi back to their place.

"So how was the first day on the job?" Jessi asked Declan.

"Day's not even over yet," Declan replied. "We still have to check that casino out."

"But you can't," Jessi smirked. "I'm the only one with a fake ID."

"So how's Kyle gonna get in then?" Declan asked.

"Kyle and I are linked telepathically," Jessi told him. "I'll be able to show him everything I see."

"Well I'm sure you guys can find some use for me," Declan replied.

"Of course we can," Jessi said with a big grin. "You can be our shield in case they start shooting at us."

They both laughed. Kyle was happy to see Jessi joking around again but he wondered. _Jessi sounded an awful lot like she was flirting with Declan. Could she still be attracted to him?_

_I can't believe you would think that, _he heard her voice scolding him in his head. _I never thought you would actually be jealous, _she thought with a smile.

_Jessi I can't even have privacy from you in my own mind? _Kyle thought annoyed.

_Okay fine,_ Jessi thought rolling her eyes,_ I'll try to respect your privacy but trust me I'm not attracted to Declan anymore. I mean I really like him, we have a lot in common, but I don't like him in the same way as I like you._

_I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions Jessi. _

"Hey why are you two leaving me out of your conversation?" Declan asked.

"What do you mean?" they both asked simultaneously.

"I can see your faces in the mirror. And you're looking at each other and changing your expression like you're talking but no words are coming out of your mouth," he told them.

"Yeah Jessi and I learned how to talk telepathically," Kyle told him.

"Couldn't you do that before?" Declan asked.

"Not as clearly as this," Kyle explained. "We can actually hear each other's voices in our heads."

"You two really are the perfect match for each other," Declan said in amazement. "I mean no one else in the world is as connected together as you guys are."

"Lori said that we have completely opposite personalities though," Jessi said remembering.

"Well yeah, you kind of do," Declan told her. "But that's actually a good thing because when you're together you both kinda balance each other out. You know you sort of cancel each other's faults out. Like a yin yang."

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked him.

"Well remember the way Jessi used to be? And you see how she is now? That's because some of your personality rubbed off on her," Declan explained to them. "And Kyle on the other hand used to be a fucking pussy but you grew some balls and learned how to fight back against people hurting you. You can thank Jessi for that," he said laughing.

Kyle also laughed but Jessi didn't. She remembered how Kyle almost killed Cassidy and felt like she was a bad influence on him.

"Alright guys," Declan said pulling up in the Tragers' driveway. "I'll see you in about six hours." They got out of the car and he drove away.

They both stood outside the house and thought about all the stuff that had happened today. It was only 4:00 PM but so much had already happened. Kyle could hardly believe that it was only this morning around twelve hours ago that he battled the Triads in the woods. They both went inside the house.

Lori immediately greeted them with questions. "So? Did you find out anything?"

Kyle nodded. "Yes we have a lead." Him and Jessi led her into his room and told her about how they traced the car back to the owner's house and how they found him dead so he wouldn't talk. Lori expression changed to that of horror.

"What? They killed him? Oh my god, Kyle who the hell are you dealing with here? I didn't even know Latnok was capable of going that far…"

"It wasn't Latnok," Kyle told her. "They were Triads." When she looked confused he told her, "Chinese gangsters."

Lori stared at him like he just did something incredibly stupid. After a few seconds of silence she said, "Kyle, Jessi, I know you guys are super intelligent and you can do all this cool stuff with your minds and all but I really think you're in way over your heads this time. You're dealing with guys who kill people like its nothing. Maybe you should just lay back and let the police handle this."

"But there's no way we can prove Cassidy's plan to the police," Jessi told her.

"Jessi, please just take my advise. This could end up really bad for the both of you," Lori urged them. "I really don't want to see my brother and sister covered in bullet holes."

"Don't worry we won't do anything stupid," Jessi said trying to calm her down.

"Oh you mean like chase after them in a car?" Lori asked sarcastically.

"Look Lori," Kyle said to his sister. "You can't tell Nicole and Steven what I've just told you. That's the condition. You wanted to get involved well now you have to keep our secrets."

"Okay…fine, just please…be careful," she pleaded. "I can't wait to tell Declan about this."

"Oh he already knows. He's actually training with Foss so he can one day replace him as our body guard," Jessi said to Lori.

Kyle smacked his head.

_What's the matter? Was I not supposed to tell her that? _Jessi asked him. Kyle shook his head.

Lori was speechless for a few seconds but then she finally managed to scream at the top of her voice, "What the FUCK is that moron think he's doing?!" She furiously dialed his number.

"Oh hey Declan…listen I've got a quick question for you," she said to him in a totally deceiving tone.

"Sure Trager, shoot." Declan said on the other end.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Lori snapped angrily.

"Uh…what?" Declan asked confused.

"Do you have a death wish? You wanna die?" Lori asked.

"Trager what the hell are you going on about?" Declan asked her.

"I know about your training jackass!" Lori told him.

"Oh, so you found out about that huh…" he said sheepishly. But then he became more confident. "So what?" he challenged her. "Maybe this is what I want to do with my life!"

Kyle and Jessi watched helplessly as the two of them argued loudly over the phone. _Maybe we should go to my room_ Jessi suggested without speaking. Kyle followed her out of his room and gently closed the door to his room leaving Lori to fight with Declan inside.

As soon as they were both in Jessi's room she closed the door and locked it which Kyle immediately noticed.

"Take your shirt off," Jessi told him.

"What? Why?" Kyle asked nervously.

"Your wounds," she said. "I want to heal them."

"Oh," Kyle said relaxing. He took off his shirt. Jessi stared at the painful looking bruises. She put her hand over the one on his stomach and concentrated trying to heal it.

"No wait," Kyle said. "Let me heal this one and you can get the one on my back. That way you don't exhaust yourself."

"Okay," Jessi said reluctantly. She was really looking forward to running her hand over his well toned abs. _There was nothing sexual about it_, she told herself, _I'm only healing him._ Or maybe it was sexual and she was using the whole healing thing as an excuse. Jessi didn't really care. All she knew was that it felt good. Last time she caressed his skin like that both she and Kyle felt a very pleasurable charge of electricity and they didn't even have to kiss.

Kyle finished healing his stomach wound and turned around. "Okay you get the one on my shoulder he told her."

Jessi made him sit down on her bed and started caressing the muscles on his back and shoulders. Kyle immediately tensed up. _What is she doing?_ he thought frantically.

"Kyle relax it's not like we're kissing," Jessi told him.

"Jessi I still don't think we should be doing this," Kyle said nervously.

"I'm only healing you. I'm sure Nicole won't mind," Jessi said casually.

"So then why'd you lock the door?"Kyle asked curiously.

"So no one gets the wrong idea,"Jessi replied massaging his shoulders.

"Because this is not what it looks like, right?" Kyle asked her smiling.

"Of course it isn't," she reassured him smiling back. "Now just relax."

She concentrated on his wound and healed it up within seconds. "There all done."

But she didn't remove her hand. She continued to lightly caress and massage his back. Kyle felt a very euphoric tingling sensation through his whole body. It was that light electrical charge he felt last time. He still didn't know why he felt it only with Jessi and not Amanda. But it felt really nice. Jessi felt it too.

"Why is there always a power surge when we touch?" she asked him sarcastically since last time he didn't want to accept that it was their libido.

_Because you are so beautiful and I want you so much _Kyle thought to himself completely forgetting that Jessi could hear him.

_That was sweet. You should say things like that more often to me outside your mind._

Kyle was mortified. "Jessi what did I tell you about privacy?"

"Sorry couldn't resist," she said smiling. They both laid down on the bed next to each other and cuddled. Jessi was soon deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" Kyle asked.

"Why are you asking me? You could just find out," Jessi said.

"Yes I could but I don't want to see something you don't want me to see," Kyle said.

"I'm just thinking it's hard to believe that it's only been five days since that night Cassidy came into our house and attacked you."

"Yeah so much has happened in such a short time," Kyle said. "It's quite overwhelming."

"And I can't believe we still have twenty-five more days before we move out of here."

"Yeah I know." Kyle said completely understanding her impatience since he felt it himself. "Don't worry we'll get through it."

**See what I mean when I say I suck at writing scenes like these? I mean this last scene took me like an hour to write and it's not even that good compared to the other stories. Oh well I gave it my best shot. So as I said I'm trying to bring Andy into this but I really don't know how. That girl has a very unique way of talking like when she used to joke casually about her cancer or when she used to put Josh down. She's got this amazing sense of sarcasm which I don't know if I can copy. It's gonna be tough.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Kyle, Jessi, Foss, and Declan are about to go to the casino. I bring Amanda back to the story this chapter. Not much else happens in this chapter. It's the next chapter that's going to be really important. As always please review.**

Chapter 16

Kyle was awakened by a knock on the door. He quickly opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was Jessi sleeping right in front of him. The door knocked again. And Kyle jumped out of Jessi's bed and threw his shirt on. They hadn't done anything together but if Nicole had walked in on them it would not have looked good at all. He walked over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it.

Josh was standing out there looking confused. "What are you doing in her room with the door locked?" he asked. He then saw Jessi sleeping in her bed. A look of sheer amazement came upon his face. "Dude…" he said sounding impressed. But then this look was replaced by another one of disgust. "Dude!" he said again but in a different way.

_It's interesting how the same phrase can have two different meanings depending on the way in which it's said, _Kyle observed. "What?" he inquired.

"On one hand I'm impressed because she's hot as hell and you've finally joined the club after your G rated relationship with Amanda," Josh said. "But on the other hand I'm totally grossed out because I'm starting to think of her as a sister and you're my brother."

"We didn't do anything," Kyle said to him.

"Then why were you sleeping next to each other with the door locked?" Josh asked amused.

"Jessi healed some of my wounds and we just sort of fell asleep talking." Kyle said.

"Well it's a good thing mom didn't come in," Josh said. "That wouldn't have been pretty. By the way is she okay with this?"

"No," Kyle said sadly. "She doesn't want me and Jessi to be pursuing a relationship while living in the same house."

"Well that's understandable," Josh said. "But you're both going off to UW in like a month right? So that shouldn't be a problem then."

Kyle sighed. "When I first came to your house I couldn't understand how you all thought some days went by faster while some went by slower when time moves at a constant rate. Well, not really, if you're approaching the speed of light then time…"

"Get to the point Kyle," Josh said not wanting to hear a scientific explanation.

"Oh sorry, I couldn't understand how you all felt that sometimes time moved faster or slower depending on your mood. But now I understand. This month seems a lot longer than any other month that has passed. I can't wait until I'm finally in UW with Jessi." Kyle said longingly. "Anyway what did you want?"

"Mom's calling you and Jessi for dinner. So you are two making any progress in finding Cassidy?"

"Yeah we're going to check this place out. It might have some people who might be able to lead us to him." Kyle told him. He pulled out his cellphone and looked at the time. It was 6:15. Soon they would have to head over to the Chinese casino.

"Jessi," he said gently shaking her awake. "Jessi, we should probably eat before we head over there."

Jessi woke up. "Hi," she said smiling sleepily. "How long have we slept?" she asked.

"Two hours," Kyle told her. It was easily enough for them.

After Kyle and Jessi ate dinner they waited outside the house for Declan to pick them up.

_Uh oh,_ Jessi said telepathically.

_What? _Kyle asked.

_It's Amanda._

Kyle looked and saw Amanda walking towards them.

"Hey Kyle. Hey Jessi," She greeted them smiling.

"Hey Amanda," Kyle said smiling back. _I wonder what she wants _he wondered.

_It's kind of obvious what she wants _Jessi cynically thought to him.

"Kind of a boring day isn't it?" she asked trying to strike up a conversation.

"It hasn't really been boring for us," Jessi told her smugly. It definitely hadn't been a boring day but Kyle noticed that Jessi said it in a way that implied they had been having fun together all day which was definitely not true. _Is she still trying to make Amanda jealous? _Kyle wondered.

"Oh…well that's good." Amanda said awkwardly. "What did you guys do?" she asked before immediately regretting the question.

"We're trying to track down Cassidy," Kyle told her.

"Oh cool…" Amanda said followed by a long pause. Finally Amanda spoke up again, "Look guys, I know you're both together now and I respect that but can we please just go back to being friends? I really miss the old days when we all used to hang out together. Guys I promise I won't get in the way of your relationship. What do you say?"

Kyle was glad. He wanted to be friends with Amanda too. "Amanda you have no idea how much I miss those days," he said. "I would be glad to be your friend again." But Jessi was much colder.

"Hmmm," she said thinking. "I don't know Amanda. I remember when you and Kyle used to date you didn't want him to be my friend," she reminded her. "I remember how you were always jealous when we spent time together."

Amanda looked at sadly at Jessi. _The only reason I was jealous was because I knew you were after him_ she thought bitterly. But she didn't want to upset Jessi so she said, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. Jessi please, I just want things to go back to the way they were before. I promise you, I'll respect your relationship. Please let's just be friends," she pleaded.

Jessi didn't say anything. Kyle tried to break the silence. "Jessi forgives you Amanda," he told her. "We can all hang out together sometime."

Amanda smiled happily at him. "That would be so great," she said. "Thank you Jessi. I'll leave you guys alone now." She walked back to her house.

_You know I don't really forgive her._ Jessi thought to him.

_Please be nice to her Jessi she said she only wants to be friends._ Kyle thought back.

_Yeah I'm sure she's only interested in being friends with you Kyle_

_Well that's all I'm interested in being. I'm with you now Jessi._

_I know. _

The sun was beginning to set when Declan arrived. Kyle and Jessi got into the backseat.

"Well this is it," Declan said anxiously as he drove to Foss's warehouse. "You guys ready?"

"Yes," both Kyle and Jessi said.

Kyle noticed Declan's heart beating a little faster than normal. "Are you nervous?" he asked him.

"It's like that feeling you get before a really big basketball game," Declan told him. "I'm hyped up on adrenaline."

"I remember that feeling," Kyle said.

"Oh by the way," Declan said remembering, "which one of you super intelligent yet annoyingly naïve retards thought it was a good idea to let Lori know about me and Foss?"

"That was me, I'm sorry," Jessi apologized. "I didn't realize she would act like that. She sounded very angry at you."

"Yeah no shit," Declan said. "She's not talking to me anymore. But that's okay she'll get over it."

"She cares about you a lot," Kyle told him. Declan didn't say anything.

They arrived at Foss's warehouse and saw that he was already waiting for them outside.

"Finally," he said. "Here I have something for you two." He handed Kyle and Declan a fake driver's license with their age over 21.

"Awesome!" Declan said with a huge grin on his face. "I'm gonna get so fucked up with this!"

"No you're not idiot I'm taking them back when we're done." Foss said rolling his eyes.

They all got into Foss's van and drove to the Heavenly Golden Dragon Casino. The drive was extremely tense.

"So these Chinese guys…they have guns, right?" Declan asked nervously.

"Yup," Foss answered him. "And they'll have real bullets this time."

"Of course they will," Declan said. "Sorry stupid question." His heart was pumping quite fast.

"This is our first time facing off against actual firearms," Jessi said quite nervous herself. She remembered Lori's words. _I really don't want to see my brother and sister covered in bullet holes. _"We could die," she said.

"Relax," Foss told them all. "There will be no facing off and no one's going to die. It's not like we're going to run in there and try to fight every one at the same time."

"So how are we going to do it?" Kyle asked him anxiously.

"First we need to check out what it's like inside," Foss told him. "Like how much security they have, where all the cameras are, those kinds of things. We'll determine the best course of action from there."

They continued driving a few more minutes in silence. By this point everyone was too nervous to talk except for Foss who was just normally quiet. Declan was especially nervous. Unlike Kyle and Jessi he had no special abilities. He was just an ordinary kid and god forbid he got shot. Kyle and Jessi noticed that his heart was beating quite fast.

Jessi tried to calm him down by talking about something he might enjoy. "So what's going on with you and Jamie?" she asked him.

"Oh yeah, she called me like three hours ago," Declan said trying to sound uninterested, "says she wants to see me again."

"Are you?"

"Maybe," Declan said even though he really wanted to.

Jessi wondered why Declan was acting like he wasn't interested in Jamie when she knew he was. _He must be trying to act cool _she reasoned. She never understood why some men thought it was cool to act like they didn't get too attached to women.

"Kyle why is it considered cool for a man to be promiscuous without actually being in a relationship?" Jessi asked Kyle completely baffling him.

Declan burst out laughing. He wasn't sure which was funnier, the sheer randomness of the question or the expression on Kyle's face when she asked him.

"Jessi I really don't know…"

**Yeah it's a short chapter but the next one is gonna be longer. It's going to take a while to write it because I now have to think up how they're going to capture the manager of the casino by getting through all the security guards with real guns etc. I'm glad to see some of you liked my Kyle/Jessi moment. **

**Oh and this is really important. If you think that any of these characters don't match themselves on the TV show then PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I'm trying to make Jessi joke around more by saying that she's developing social skills and becoming less awkward but that's as far as I'm changing her. I sincerely hope all these guys are the same as they were when season 3 ended if not please tell me.**


	17. Chapter 17

**YES it is SO motivating to get some reviews. I really hope this chapter can meet your expectations. Kessi38 as soon as I saw your review I took your advice and edited this chapter. So instead of all four of them fighting the Triads it's only gonna be Jessi and Foss with Jessi doing most of the work of course.  
**

Chapter 17

"Okay, here we are," Foss said as he parked the truck in the parking lot.

Kyle stepped out of the car and stared at the magnificently decorated building in front of him. He had never seen anything like it before. The building had a very authentic Chinese feel to it. It resembled those ancient imperial Chinese palaces. Kyle was amazed at the incredible artistic talent that went into designing and building a place like this. "There are so many lights and decorations," he said in awe.

"You should see Vegas," Declan told him. "The place is full of casinos.

Foss turned to Kyle. "I don't think you should go in there in case one of your attackers recognizes you. Wait here in the parking lot with Declan. Jessi and I will take care of this."

"Aw come on Foss!" Declan said disappointed. "What the hell was the point of giving us a fake I.D. if we can't even come in?"

"You're our backup in case we get captured. Jessi will signal Kyle. In the meantime you two wait over here."

"Jessi wait," Kyle said. Jessi turned around.

"What is it Kyle?"

Kyle unexpectedly pulled her face towards his and gave her a very long and passionate kiss taking her completely by surprise.

_About fucking time_ Declan thought to himself.

Foss shook his head and muttered "Teenagers…"

"Wow…" Jessi said as she catching her breath. She didn't expect him to break Nicole's rule like that.

"That was your good luck kiss," Kyle told her. "I owed you one from last time," he said remembering how they made the light explode in their house.

"Alright let's go," Foss said impatiently.

"Don't worry about me Kyle I'll be fine," Jessi promised him. "See you guys soon."

Both Jessi and Foss went into the casino. .

Declan might not have been able to hear Kyle's heartbeat or sense his emotions but he knew exactly what his friend was thinking. "Dude, why don't you be like a regular teenager and just rebel?" he asked him. "So what if you get grounded? It's part of adolescence. You know how often I get grounded then just sneak out anyway?"

"Steven and Nicole hold me to a higher standard," Kyle explained to Declan with a sad face. "They expect better of me. I don't want to disappoint them when they've given me so much."

"So then you're just gonna have to wait the rest of the month," Declan told him.

"Well me and Jessi can still go out on dates without actually getting physical," Kyle said.

"Yeah dude, but that sucks!"

"Well it'll have to do for now…"

While they talked Jessi tried to memorize the inside of the casino with as much detail as her super advanced brain let her. She memorized the entire layout of that floor, like Foss told her to. She memorized where all the security cameras were and where the blind spots were, the area's that weren't visible by any of the cameras. She noticed a lot of security guards with the Chinese tattoo on the cheeks. Many of them had bruises on their faces from their battle with Kyle.

One of the staff smiled at her politely, "You're back to win some more eh?"

Jessi smiled back at him and nodded. "Yeah, I'll try."

She walked back to meet Foss.

"Here put this on," he handed her a Chinese dragon mask that the casino was selling as souvenirs. He had one for himself.

"What's this for," Jessi asked amused.

"In case we get caught on camera they can't identify us," Foss explained.

"Okay I've completely memorized everything on this floor," she told him. "You see that big mirror up there behind me?"

Foss looked up and saw a very large mirror high up on the wall near the top of the ceiling.

"That's actually a one way window," she told him. "I used my ultraviolet vision to see inside it. There's a room that overlooks this whole floor. I'm pretty sure that's the manager's office."

She subtly gestured to a door below the mirror on the main floor in front of which a guard was standing. Only employees were allowed there it seemed. "That looks like the only way up there," she said. "That camera over there is watching the door. There are probably more cameras inside."

"That's why it's a good thing we have these masks," Foss said. "Now remember we want to do this with as little violence as possible. We don't want to attract attention. There's way too many of them for us to fight them all."

They walked near the door acting casual. The guard watched them closely.

"We need a distraction," Foss told Jessi.

"Okay give me a moment," Jessi replied.

A few seconds later Foss noticed that two large chandeliers were glowing brighter than all the others in the building. They kept increasing in brightness for about thirty seconds than all of a sudden one exploded in a shower of sparks scaring the hell out of everybody below. The other one exploded five seconds later. People began to panic and scream. The security guards including the one in front of the door ran to see what had caused it. Immediately Jessi turned her attention to the camera watching the door. She once again used her abilities to control electrical current to cause as much electronic interference in the camera as she could. The Triad who was watching the screens looked confused as one of the screens was filled with static interference. He reached for his radio to inform the others about the problem when the screen went back to normal. He waited a few seconds for it to malfunction again and when it didn't he sat back satisfied.

Jessi and Foss had managed to sneak in through the door without anybody seeing them. They were now in a long hallway. Foss pulled out his silenced pistol and led the way. As soon as they reached a corner Foss stopped. He pulled out a small mirror out of his pocket and used it to look around the corner without exposing himself. "Camera," he whispered in a low voice.

Jessi nodded and once again tried to cause the camera to static up. She knew she couldn't do it for long otherwise the guard would get suspicious. "Okay now," she told Foss and they both ran around the corner.

However the guard watching noticed that something was strange. First the lights on the main floor mysteriously exploded, then almost immediately the camera watching the door starts acting all weird and now another camera was acting weird but not just any camera. It was the second camera a person would run into while in the restricted area. It was almost as if someone was sneaking around where they weren't supposed to and somehow messing with the cameras so they wouldn't get caught. He reached for his radio.

Meanwhile Kyle and Declan continued talking.

"I talked to Amanda today," Kyle said.

"Yeah? What'd she say?"

"She said she really wanted to go back to being friends again and how she missed the old days when we all used to hang out together."

"Is Jessi okay with that?"

"No but I asked her to tolerate Amanda for me. She thinks Amanda wants to be more than friends."

"You understand why she's acting like that right?" Declan asked Kyle. "She knows you're still into Amanda so she's naturally a little overprotective."

"The psychology of the female mind is very complicated," Kyle said like he was giving a scientific lecture.

"It's not just the girls, man. It's humans in general. I mean just imagine if Jessi started getting real friendly with one of her ex's. Wouldn't you feel just a tiny bit jealous?"

"You're her only ex and I don't feel jealous at all," Kyle reminded him.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that," Declan said awkwardly. "But I'm your friend and you know I would never do that to you. Jessi and Amanda aren't really friends so they don't trust each other…hey Kyle what's the matter?" Declan asked.

Kyle had suddenly changed his expression to a worried one. "It's Jessi," he said. He looked towards the casino.

"Should we go in there?" Declan asked anxiously.

Kyle concentrated. "She's not in any danger," he said, "But something is stressing her out."

Inside the casino Jessi winced as she heard another terrible scream.

"You really thought we'd just let you run away after stealing two million dollars from us?" she heard a man ask.

"I didn't steal it you know that!"

"Shut up asshole! That's what you owe us after we helped you out. What you think we offer our services for free?"

"But I never asked for your services!" the man protested.

"Doesn't matter. We helped your sorry ass out and when we asked for our payment you thought you could just leave the city without anyone noticing? You idiot, we have guys everywhere."

Jessi heard yet another terrible scream as the Triads tortured the man. She couldn't take it anymore. She reached for the door when Foss put his hand on her shoulder. He looked at her with a grim expression on his face. He shook his head. "We can't help everybody," he told her. "We have to keep going."

Jessi nodded. Very reluctantly she and Foss walked away from the door leaving the poor man screaming inside. Jessi now understood why Kyle was so angry with her. She couldn't imagine what atrocities these bastards would do if they had superhuman clones to do their dirty work for them. She would never let them fall into the hands of the Triads.

She and Foss kept walking down the hallway when all of a sudden two guards came from around the corner and stared right at them. "Hey!" they growled and reached for their weapons. Jessi held her arm out. The guards went flying back into a wall and stuck there pinned by some invisible force. Jessi wanted to make the Triads suffer like they were making the man suffer but she knew she didn't have time for that. She moved all the blood away from their brain slipping them into unconsciousness. Their bodies crumpled on the floor as she released them.

"Nice," Foss said impressed by how quickly and silently Jessi had dealt with them.

Just then the unconscious men's radios cackled and someone called their names. "Yao? Cheng? Did you guys find anything? Hello? Guys?"

Jessi and Foss looked at each other. "Do they know we're here?" Jessi asked.

"Well they do now," Foss said. "We have to move faster or we're going to have a lot of company real soon."

No longer caring whether the cameras saw them or not they both ran through the hallways until they reached a staircase. They were about to run up the stairs when they heard men running down. The men didn't know that Jessi and Foss were waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs yet. Jessi concentrated her mind the best she could and tried to increase the voltage in every single light in the stairwell. One or two she could do but every single light proved to be quite a challenge. Blood trickled down her nose as the lights glowed very brightly. Jessi ignored the pain in the head. "Hey what's with the lights?" she heard one of the men saying. Then the lights exploded one my one leaving the stairwell in almost total darkness. "What the fuck is going on?" another man yelled.

Jessi ran straight up the stairs. "Hey someone's coming up!" she heard one of them yell. As soon as she turned the corner she ran straight into a man pointing a gun at her. Luckily he couldn't see her that well. Before he could do anything she kicked the gun out of his hands then spun around and delivered a brutal spin kick to his head. She grabbed his large unconscious body and hid behind it like a shield as she moved up the stairs. The others saw the movement and fired at it. The flashes from the gunshots showed them that they just killed their own friend. "Holy shit I just shot Deng!" one of them cried in horror. Jessi dropped the body and ran up to the second man. He tried to point a gun at her but she grabbed his wrist, and pinned it against the wall. She then chopped him in the throat causing him to choke. She ran up to the third man who was extremely reluctant to blindly shoot again. He tried to pistol whip her but she grabbed his hand, turned around and threw him over her shoulder down the stairs. He fell right on top of the second man who was still choking and they both tumbled down the stairs painfully. Foss couldn't see a thing but he heard several grunts of pain as Jessi incapacitated them one by one. They might have had guns but they were no match for Jessi in the dark. She was much stronger than them and she could see perfectly in the dark. "Come on up," she called to him when she was done.

Foss made his way up the stairs to the top floor and they both exited the stairwell into a final hallway. At the end of the hallway there was a single door in front of which a man stood guard. He wasn't really paying attention so when he saw Foss and Jessi he was startled. He raised his gun but Foss was quicker. Before Jessi could even do anything Foss fired his silenced pistol three times and the man dropped down dead.

"You killed him…" Jessi said staring at the dead body.

"Do you really have a problem with that after what we heard downstairs?" he asked her.

Jessi thought about it. After she heard them torturing somebody she felt no sympathy for the Triads. "No," she admitted. "But we can't tell Kyle about it."

"Who says I was planning to?" Foss said with one of his rare grins. They both headed towards the door and listened.

"Han, please," they heard someone saying in Mandarin. Like Kyle, Jessi had also taken it upon herself to learn the language. "I've barely had any time to show you how profitable I've made your business in Seattle. This casino is nothing. There is much more to see. Please stay a little longer."

"I'm afraid I can't stay any longer my friend," another voice replied in Mandarin. "I have important matters to attend to in Hong Kong. From what I've seen you've done a pretty good job. Making you in charge of my operations in Seattle was a good move."

Jessi couldn't believe her luck. Not only had they managed to find the manager of the casino who seemed to be a pretty high ranking Triad, but also this Han character who seemed to be the leader of all the Triads. He nodded at Jessi. They opened the door and walked right in on the meeting.

"Hey what the fuck? Who are you?" one of the men demanded.

Foss pointed his gun at him. "Shut up," he said.

"Foss, they're coming up the stairs, I can hear them!" Jessi told him and he closed the door and locked it.

"Alright now which one of you is Han?" she asked the two Triads.

"You're making a big fucking mistake," one of them men cursed in a voice that showed he wasn't Han. "We're going to…" He was interrupted as Jessi's fist slammed into his cheek dislocating his jaw. Jessi hit Han equally hard knocking him out. She then picked him up in a fireman's carry. Just then the door started banging really loud as the Triads tried to get in. "How many do you hear out there?" Foss asked Jessi.

"Let's just say a lot," Jessi answered him.

Foss turned to the large window which was visible as a mirror from outside. He saw several Triads blocking the exit so they couldn't leave the casino. He turned to another window that looked over the parking lot outside the building. "We're going to have to jump outside," he told Jessi.

She nodded and kicked the glass shattering it and jumped out into the parking lot sixty feet below carrying Han. Of course she landed completely unharmed. She looked up and yelled "Jump!"

Trusting Jessi Foss took a deep breath and jumped out of the building. Jessi used her mind to slow down his fall towards the end so that he landed smoothly. Just as he jumped the door to the manager's office burst open and several Triads armed with machine guns came flooding in. Because of the loud music inside the casino the Triads blocking the exit hadn't realized that Jessi and Foss had landed right behind them outside. Both of them ran as fast as they could towards Foss's truck. As she ran she heard the automatic fire of the Triads' machine guns behind her._ Kyle, get the truck ready we're coming! _Jessi practically screamed in her mind.

"Shit did you hear that?" Declan sat up suddenly alert as he heard the gunshots.

"They're coming!" Kyle said. He turned on started the engine.

A few seconds later Jessi and Foss reached the truck and dumped Han into the back and both got in. "Go!" they both yelled at the same time. Kyle stepped on the gas pedal and sped of out of the casino's parking lot as the Triads uselessly fired away at the pickup. Normally Kyle was the type of guy who drove exactly at the speed limit but hearing gunfire behind him he really didn't care about breaking the law. He drove way above the speed limit and swerved between lanes to pass cars that were moving too slow for him. Eventually Foss had to tell him to slow down or they might get pulled over by the cops with an unconscious guy riding in the bed of the pickup.

Kyle thought the drive to the casino was tense but it was nothing compared to the drive back. Jessi and Foss kept looking over their shoulder to see if anyone was following them and instead of heading straight back to the warehouse Foss ordered Kyle to drive around Seattle in circles At one point Jessi had to get in the back of the truck and chloroform Han so he wouldn't try to jump out. Finally two hours later when Foss was sure no one was following them they made it back to the warehouse. Kyle put the truck in park and turned around facing Jessi and Foss. "Why are you wearing masks?" he asked them.

Both of them ripped the masks off their face completely forgetting that they still had them on. Jessi looked at Foss with an astonished look and said, "I can't believe we're still alive."

Foss smiled another one of his rare smiles. "Believe me I've known that feeling many times. You did good Jessi."

**Alright well there it is. xxshyangel29xx I hope my action scenes lived up to your expectations. Kessi38 I hope this made Jessi badass enough. I definitely don't want Jessi to be 'blond'. I'll make sure she's portrayed as a tough chick. Abby my Italian friend I'm glad you like my story.  
**

**As always please review.**


	18. Chapter 18

**This story crossed the halfway mark a few chapters back and is now on its way to the end. There's really not much else left for them to do. Find Cassidy and Grace and fight them in a big action packed climactic battle. That battle itself will probably take more than one chapter. Then after that maybe two more chapters to tie off any lose ends. Well in this chapter Kyle does some serious thinking about what is right and wrong. Also starring in this chapter is another character that hasn't appeared in this story yet.**

Chapter 18

Han Chung woke up in the warehouse tied to a chair. He saw four people looking at him. Two of them he easily recognized. They were XY and XX. "You!" he gasped. "What is the meaning of this? Where is Mr. Cassidy?" he demanded still thinking that Kyle and Jessi were under his control. Cassidy had never told him that Kyle and Jessi no longer worked for Latnok.

They both looked at each other confused "I demand an explanation from him! How dare he treat his customers like this!" Han shouted.

_Does he think we're still under Latnok's control? _Jessi asked Kyle.

_I think so, _Kyle replied. _We may be able to use this to our advantage_

"Cassidy's dead," Kyle lied to Han.

"We killed him," Jessi added.

A look of fear crept up on Han's face. Declan and Foss wondered what Kyle and Jessi were up to but they knew better than to open their mouths and ruin everything.

"Relax," Kyle told Han in a calm voice. "We're not going to hurt you. We can still do business together."

"But why did you kill Mr. Cassidy?" Han asked.

"Money," Kyle said simply without hesitation. "We wanted a piece of the profits since we contributed so much to the cloning project. But Cassidy didn't agree. He thought we were nothing more than property of Latnok."

"We were tired of just being lab rats so we decided to take over Latnok by killing him and any other members who had a problem with it." Jessi explained in a cold remorseless voice. "I'm sure you see it in your line of work all the time, Han."

That was true. Han remembered when he was second in command he himself had assassinated his old boss and took over the Triads. Everything that Kyle and Jessi told Han seemed highly probable to him.

"We're still willing to sell those clones to you," Kyle told him. "Believe me we are much, much more intelligent than Cassidy or anyone else at Latnok. No one is better qualified to lead this project than us. Are you still interested?"

"Just think of the enormous amounts of profits people like us can bring to your organization," Jessi enticed him. "You saw how I managed to get past the security at the casino and kidnap you and I'm sure you know how he," she pointed to Kyle, "managed to defeat all those men you sent after him. Now imagine people who can do everything we can working for you."

"Okay, but why did you have to kidnap me like this?" Han asked angrily. He was one of the most powerful men in the world and wasn't used to being treated like this.

Jessi shrugged. "I wanted to show you what I am capable off," she answered as Kyle untied Han.

Han got up. He looked at Kyle and Jessi in a different light with newfound respect. He no longer thought of them as Latnok's guinea pigs. _They are just like me_ he thought. _They too were tired of being used by those above them and wanted to make the big money._ "I accept your proposal, my friends. We can still do business together," he said smiling and shaking their hands.

"There's just one problem," Kyle told him.

"Actually it's not even a big problem for us," Jessi said, "but it would save a lot of time and money for you."

"What is it?" Han asked them eager to help them finish the project as soon as possible.

"I was a little hasty in breaking Cassidy's neck," Jessi said icily. "I didn't get a chance to find out where exactly this cloning facility is located. Unfortunately none of the other senior members of Latnok know either."

"Now with our intelligence we can build a new facility of course," Kyle continued for her. "It's no big deal to us but it'll take at least a year and cost a lot of money so that means the price of each clone will go up substantially."

"You're still going to get your product in the same excellent quality," Jessi assured him. "But if you happen to know where this facility is located you can save a lot of time and money by telling us."

"Of course I know where it is!" Han said relieved that that's all it was. "Mr. Cassidy gave me a tour of the facility himself. It is located right here in America just a few miles outside Phoenix, Arizona. I shall write down the exact directions for you."

Declan and Foss were impressed by how Kyle and Jessi had just made up a story right there on the spot. It was amazing how well connected they were. They knew exactly where the other was going with the story and every time one of them added something the other would just roll with it smoothly and this made it look like everything they were saying was actually the truth. And Han ate it all up.

"You're sure these are the exact directions?" Kyle asked him.

"Absolutely," Han said confidently and his heart rate indicated that he wasn't lying.

"Well thank you for your time, sir," Foss spoke for the first time. "I'll kindly escort you back to your casino." As he led the Triad boss out to the back of the warehouse he looked at Jessi and nodded very slightly. She nodded back without saying a word. Kyle looked at Jessi puzzled wondering what Foss was doing. Jessi didn't say anything and she completely blocked out Kyle from her thoughts. She knew exactly what was coming next and she really didn't care.

"Jessi, where's he taking him?" Kyle asked her. Jessi didn't answer. Kyle immediately ran out of the warehouse to catch up to Foss. As soon as he stepped out into the night he froze. Han's body was lying on the ground with blood and brain tissue splattered all over the ground. Standing above it was Foss who was just putting his silenced pistol back into his coat. Kyle was horrified.

"What did you do?" he gasped.

Foss turned around and looked at him in the eye. "Forget about him," he said without remorse. "He deserves it after all the people he had killed."

"No..." Kyle said shaking his head. He couldn't believe the scene in front of him. "You're no better than him now."

"I'm no better than him?" Foss snapped angrily. "This bastard made millions out of killing and extorting people. I've finally put an end to that and you think I'm no better than this mass murderer?"

Declan and Jessi came out of the warehouse. "Aw fuck!" Declan cursed after seeing Han with his brains all over the ground.

"You've committed the same act which you criticize him for," Kyle said to Foss angrily. "How many innocent scientists and workers did you kill at Zyzzyx when you firebombed them just to kill the leaders?"

"I didn't have any choice then and I didn't have one now," Foss shot back defending his actions. "Zyzzyx had to go because they were trying to kill you and Adam. And when he found out that you and Jessi tricked him he would have tried to do the same thing."

"He did see our faces Kyle," Declan pointed out. "He would have been pretty pissed off once he got back to his buddies and found out that everything you told him was bullshit. I think Foss made the right decision."

Kyle desperately looked to Jessi for support but didn't get any. "Jessi," he pleaded. "Please tell me you think this is wrong."

Jessi remained silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Kyle, when we were in the casino we heard them torturing someone. It was…the way he screamed…" Jessi took a deep breath, "I don't think I'll ever share that memory with you…it's too horrible. Kyle I think…" she thought of the best way to say this. "I think that some people…deserve to be killed."

Kyle was shocked. "So I'm the only one who sees a problem with this," he asked them in disbelief. None of them said anything. Kyle turned around and started running. "Kyle wait!" he heard Jessi yell after him. As soon as he heard her voice he sprinted as fast as he could. He didn't want Jessi to be able to catch up to him. He had to get away from her and the others. He didn't know or care where he was running he just ran in some random direction through Seattle.

He ran at a speed that Olympic sprinters could only run at for a hundred meters. He kept running at that speed for a good five minutes when his body began to protest under the tremendous stress. But his brain forced his body to keep going past its limit. As he ran blood trickled down his nose and even out of his mouth but Kyle didn't care. He ignored all his body's warning signs and kept up the incredibly fast pace. Finally his heart could no longer keep up and pump enough blood to his brain. He lost consciousness while still running and his body collapsed onto the ground. His heart almost stopped beating permanently. Kyle would never know how close he came to running himself to death. His brain temporarily shut down all its amazing abilities as it now completely diverted itself to healing his body which was severely damaged.

When Kyle woke up the first thing he saw was someone looking down on him. For the first few seconds after he opened his eyes his vision was blurry and he couldn't even see their face clearly. He did however make out their blonde hair. _Amanda? Nicole? _he thought wondering who it was. But then his vision began clearing up and he saw who it was.

"Hillary?" he said her name surprised. He certainly didn't expect to see her. She wasn't smiling her characteristic seductive smile but was looking at him with a concerned expression on her face.

"Good morning muffin," she said sweetly. Kyle found it a little amusing how she always referred to everyone as muffin, pumpkin, cupcake or something like that. "You were passed out on my lawn. There's blood all over your face and clothes. Good thing my parents are on vacation. Are you okay?" she asked in a worried tone.

Kyle tried to calculate the odds of passing out on her lawn out of all the lawns in Seattle but much to his surprise he found he couldn't think that much. He tried to get up but felt extreme pain in his muscles and fell back down. Just breathing seemed to hurt his chest. "What happened to me?" he asked scared.

Hillary shrugged. "I was about to call 9-1-1 when you woke up," she said. She sighed. "Poor Kyle, always waking up in places without remembering how you got there," she joked making a reference to when he woke up in the woods two years ago.

"That only happened one other time," Kyle said.

"Well it's happened to me for most of high school, muffin. And most of the time it was in some guy's bedroom. So don't worry about it." Hillary said casually.

_Hillary seems ashamed of her past but she clearly doesn't mind talking about it openly. She just accepts it with a combination of apathy and humor, _Kyle observed.

Hillary brought a wet towel and began wiping the blood of Kyle's face. "That's weird you don't look like you've been attacked, you don't have any bruises or cuts," she said. "It's like you just coughed up a lot of blood. Kyle, you're not sick are you?" she asked nervously.

Kyle didn't feel like telling Hillary how he practically sprinted for what must have been seven miles. So he simply said, "Don't worry Hillary. It's not contagious. I think I just strained my heart while running. My biological father had the same problem." Everything he told her was technically true.

Hillary relaxed. "Well then you need to be more careful then, cup cake," she scolded him. "But why were you running through my neighborhood?" she asked confused.

"I didn't really know where I was running. I just got mad and ran off in some random direction," Kyle said.

Now Hillary's curiosity kicked in. She stopped wiping Kyle for a second. "Kyle what would make _you _so mad that you would actually run till you almost killed yourself?" she asked him with great interest.

"I…got into a disagreement with Jessi and…"

"Say no more," she interrupted. "I knew she wasn't right for you."

Kyle was taken aback by how quickly Hillary had jumped to that conclusion. "Hillary, no, that's not true, I still really like her," he explained, "it's just that we disagree on a lot of things."

"Did you and Amanda disagree much?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"No not really." Kyle answered after thinking about it. One of the few things they really disagreed on was his closeness to Jessi.

Hillary sadly shook her head. "Oh, Kyle, why did you have to cheat on Amanda like that? You two were such a perfect couple."

Kyle really didn't feel like explaining the 'machine in Amanda's brain' story to Hillary so he stayed silent.

"Look Kyle, if you want to end a relationship in the future, just break up with the poor girl properly instead of going behind her back and cheating on her. It'll hurt but not nearly as much as the way you hurt Amanda." Hillary said solemnly. She liked Kyle but she was clearly upset at him for hurting her friend.

"Alright cup cake, I'll call Lori and let her know you're here. They're all probably worried sick about you," she said pulling out her cellphone. Kyle thought about what Foss did. He wondered if maybe Jessi was right. Maybe some people did deserve to die. Kyle knew by now that Jessi wanted to kill Cassidy. _Well he did kill her mother so maybe I should just let her_ he thought.

"Hey Lori," Hillary talked on the phone. "Guess who I found passed out on my lawn…"

Maybe the world would be better off without people like Han or Cassidy. Did that really give him or anyone else the right to kill them even if they were acting in the best interests of the world? _Does the end justify the means?_ Kyle contemplated.

"Here little cup cake," Hillary said handing him her cellphone. "Lori wants to talk to you."

Kyle took the phone. "Hi Lori," he said weakly.

"Kyle, oh my god, are you okay?" Lori asked frantically. "Hillary told me you were covered in blood!"

"Lori, it's okay I'm fine," Kyle tried to calm her down.

"No it is not fine Kyle. You really scared the shit out of Declan, me, Josh and Jessi, oh god, especially Jessi. She was so freaked out that something had happened to you because she couldn't sense you anymore."

"That's probably because I over used my brain and it's not working to its full capability," Kyle told her. "But how are Nicole and Steven?"

"They don't even know," Lori told him. "They think you're training with Foss. So they're not asking questions. Well just come back home soon okay?"

"Lori I can't even walk right now," Kyle said.

"Okay what the hell did you even do to yourself?" Lori asked worried.

"I ran at 30 mph for seven minutes and thirty seven seconds."

"Wow no wonder your legs hurt. Okay Kyle, stay right there we'll come over to pick you up."

Kyle hung up and gave the phone back to Hillary. "Hillary? Do you think the end justifies the means?" he asked her.

Hillary looked confused. Kyle honestly wasn't expecting much from her. But to his surprise Hillary said, "Well there are always exceptions but for the most part I'd have to say no, muffin. Like say you have this two timing asshole for a boyfriend who's been sleeping around with other girls behind your back for the whole sophomore year and you just found out about it and you decide to get back at him by sleeping with another guy who you know can kick your boyfriend's ass. Your boyfriend finds out, gets pissed off and tries to fight that guy only to get his ass kicked. Well congratulations you've succeeded in humiliating the jerk but now everyone's going to think _you're_ the slut even though you've only cheated on him once while your boyfriend who's been cheating on you all year gets everyone's sympathy. In the end even though he started it, you shouldn't have stooped down to his level. But like I said there are always exceptions."

Kyle had no idea where the hell Hillary got that example from. He suspected that it might have been her personal experience. _Maybe this is how Hillary got her reputation_ Kyle thought _and after a while she just accepted it and started acting like how people expected her to act._ He felt bad for Hillary. He then thought about what she said. Cassidy and Han might be murderers but if he killed someone like them then that would make him a murderer as well, would it not? But what if he killed them to ensure they would never kill anyone again like Foss did? _There are always exceptions _he heard Hillary voice echoing in his mind. But what should be allowed as an exception? Kyle sighed in frustration.

**Don't worry Kyle is gonna stay with Jessi regardless of what Hills says.**

**I was watching Good Luck Chuck yesterday with my friends and you know the girl in the beginning who's making out with Dane Cook on the beach? That's the same actress that plays Hillary. I saw her and I was like holy shit it's Hillary! That's what made me want to include her in my story.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I think you guys might like this chapter. Kyle asks his friends and family the same question he asked Hills.**

Chapter 19

"Hey pumpkin someone's here to see you," he heard Hillary say to him from across the room. Jessi walked up to Kyle who was lying on Hillary's couch unable to get up. She looked down at him with a completely blank expression.

"Hi Jessi," Kyle said awkwardly. "Where's Lori?"

"She and Josh were planning on coming after lunch," she said. "They should be done just about now. I had to see you right away though so I ran over here. It's only two miles."

"You should have gotten something to eat too," Kyle told her. "It's not good to deprive your body of the nutrients it needs to sustain…"

"What about sprinting here all the way from the warehouse? Is that good for your body? For someone with your I.Q. you really are quite a dumbass you know that?" Jessi snapped.

"Dumbass?" Kyle was surprised to hear her say it. _She must have picked it up from one of her TV shows or from spending time with Declan, Lori, and Josh, _Kyle thought.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's just…don't ever do something like that again okay? How do you feel?" she asked concerned.

"My brain feels really slow and my muscles hurt when I try to move," Kyle told her sheepishly.

"Yeah you really strained your body," she said to him. "Try doing that a few more times and you'll end up like Adam."

Jessi sighed, "You're still mad at me aren't you?" she said.

"I'm not really that mad Jessi. I just couldn't believe how each one of you thought what Foss did was okay."

"Yeah well you better get used to it Kyle." Jessi said in a non apologetic tone. She was much more confident about this issue now. "I still stand by what I said. And when we finally meet Cassidy…it will happen."

That's all she said because Hillary was standing there watching the whole interaction disapprovingly. Kyle knew exactly what Hills was thinking based on what she said earlier to him. She didn't think he and Jessi were right for each other but she was wrong.

"What?" Jessi asked her.

"Oh, nothing," Hillary said walking away.

Jessi turned to Kyle. "I think Hillary hates me," she said.

"Jessi, she doesn't even know you that well," Kyle said back.

"I don't really care what she thinks of me," Jessi said apathetically. "And I know why she hates me. She thinks you and Amanda should never have broken up. She called you guys Kylanda."

"Kylanda…" Kyle repeated finding it amusing. "Like Kyle and Amanda. So what does that make us?" he asked.

"I guess…Kessi?" Jessi suggested smiling.

"That sounds stupid," Kyle told her.

"I kind of like it," Jessi said. She bent down and slowly kissed him on the lips and pulled back a little to see how he would react. She expected him to complain about breaking Nicole's trust. Instead Kyle didn't say a thing. He looked up at her wanting more. Jessi happily resumed kissing him. She was glad Kyle was beginning to lighten up. Careful not to hurt him she climbed onto the couch so she was on top of him but not putting any weight on him.

She wasn't worried about Hillary walking in because she would easily hear her heartbeat. As they continued kissing away with more and more intensity they both felt that incredibly delicious electric current flow through their bodies. _It's a good thing all the electrical devices surrounding them were turned off _Kyle though. They were so wrapped up in their own world nothing else seemed to matter to them. Jessi forgot she was in Hillary's house and stopped listening for her heartbeat. Not even the sound of the door bell ringing seemed to get her attention.

Kyle hadn't been this intimate with Jessi since the night they had gone out drinking and to Kyle that didn't really count because she was way to drunk to kiss the way she was doing now plus he didn't feel any electricity with her that night either. But now she was completely sober and practically attacking him with her mouth. Kyle had never kissed Amanda like this. Not even that day in the storage room of The Rack. Kyle wished he was able to move his arms and touch her and get on top but his body was too weak. _Jessi is so amazing and beautiful and this electricity I'm feeling with her…what an incredible sensation _he thought once again forgetting that she could hear him. He remembered that day when he saw her in the shower._ Her body is just so perfect. I just want to…_Kyle couldn't even bring himself to say it in his thoughts.

Jessi stopped kissing Kyle and looked at him blushing heavily. She wasn't smiling. _You want to do what? _

_Jessi! I didn't want you to hear that! You can't just listen to my thoughts like that without my permission._

Jessi seemed distracted. _Kyle what is that in your pants…_she shifted a little and looked down. She quickly looked back at him blushing an even deep shade of red. _Kyle, were you fantasizing about having sex with me?_ she asked him with her usual level of tact.

"What no! No, that's definitely not what I was… NO! GRAPEFRUIT, GRAPEFRUIT, GRAPEFRUIT!!!" Kyle yelled.

"Grapefruit?" Jessi asked totally lost.

"Grapefruit?" Lori and Hillary repeated simultaneously. They and Josh had just walked into the living room when Kyle started yelling.

Only Josh understood what grapefruit meant. He immediately started cracking up in. Lori stared at him waiting for an explanation of what was so funny. "Dude, still? Two years later and you're still saying that?" Josh laughed.

"Jessi what the hell are you doing? Get off him. You're in Hillary's house for crying out loud!" Lori scolded her sister.

Jessi immediately got off Kyle feeling extremely embarrassed. But as soon as she got off the couch the other three saw what she saw.

"Oh my god Kyle," Lori said immediately covering her eyes and looking away.

Josh and Hillary howled with laughter uncontrollably. "Kyle this has got to be your greatest moment ever!" Josh declared. "Fucking epic!"

"This is just like back at the pool two years ago," Hillary gasped hysterically trying to catch her breath. "Poor Kyle hasn't changed one bit."

Since Kyle could barely move, he wanted more than anything for a lightning bolt to come out of no where and incinerate him on the spot. _I'm inside a house though so that wouldn't be possible. _He decided to wish for a more probable death like the ceiling would just fall on top of him due to structural failure. He couldn't even look Jessi in the eye.

"So Kyle, I hear you almost ran your ass to death," Josh finally asked when all the laughter had finally died down. "That's hardcore man. I didn't even think it was possible to die like that."

"Yeah I thought a person would collapse from exhaustion way before they could die," Lori said thinking the same thing.

"Actually it's happened to someone before" Jessi said. Everyone looked at her curiously.

"Back in 490 BC in the Greek-Persian war a Greek messenger named Pheidippidis ran forty kilometers or twenty six miles as fast as he could without stopping to tell his people that the Greeks won the battle of Marathon," she told them.

"And he died?" Hillary gasped.

"Yes he died immediately after delivering the message. That's why they call it the marathon," Jessi continued the explanation. "To honor him. And they run the same distance that he ran."

"And what, you felt like honoring him too?" Josh asked Kyle.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself I was just frustrated about something and didn't feel like stopping," Kyle said, not really wanting to tell them what frustrated him.

Jessi chose to remain silent.

But of course Hillary thought she knew the whole. She mouthed the words 'fight' to Lori who nodded in understanding. It must have been a pretty nasty argument if Kyle of all people would just run away in frustration and almost kill himself from not stopping. She didn't want to pursue it any further with Hillary around though.

"I anyway have to drop Josh off at The Rack. Why don't we all go there?" she suggested.

"Josh, can you please help me up?" Kyle asked him. He specifically asked Josh even though Jessi was standing closer to him. Josh helped him stand and carefully let go to see if he would fall. Kyle's legs trembled as they tried to hold his weight up.

"Wow dude you really fucked yourself up," Josh exclaimed astounded by the amount of damage Kyle had done to his body.

They all helped Kyle walk to the car and drove to The Rack.

On the way Kyle decided that now would be a good time to ask his brother and sister the question that had been plaguing him all day. "Lori, Josh, I have a question. Does the end justify the means?" he asked them.

Hillary smiled. "He asked me the same thing this morning," she told Lori.

"You asked Hills? Kyle, Hillary might not be the best person for you to ask a deep thought provoking question," Lori said teasing her.

"Hey! I actually gave him a good answer. Didn't I Kyle?"

"Yes she did. But I want to here everyone's opinion on this." Kyle told them.

"Well it depends on what scenario, I guess," Lori said thinking.

"Okay you know those people I told you that Jessi and I were meeting yesterday? The ones you told me not too? You know what they do for a living right? Well, is it okay for some one to do to them what they do to others?"

Jessi heard Lori's heart rate go up. "Kyle…" she asked nervously, "you didn't do what I'm thinking you did, did you?" she asked in a way that Hills wouldn't understand.

"No I didn't," Kyle assured her. "But Tom Foss did."

"Figures," she said. "That guy really creeps me out."

By now Josh had more or less caught on to what they were talking about. "Dude are you talking about the time when your, uh, neighbors were giving your biological father problems and Tom Foss had to straighten every thing out?" he asked referring to when Foss blew up Zyzzyx.

"No after that," Kyle said. "He did it again yesterday."

"Yesterday? And you saw him?" Josh whistled. "Kyle, maybe you should just stay out of his way and let the man do his job. I'm sure he knows better than anyone when it's necessary and when it's not." Josh said. Jessi nodded her head in agreement. She didn't want to say anything because she already told Kyle her views on the matter.

"Well I don't think it's ever necessary unless it's one of those 'either you or them' situations," Lori said. "Just because someone else does it doesn't mean its okay for you to."

"Okay what the hell are you guys talking about?" Hillary asked totally confused.

"Trust me Hills you really don't want to know."

They arrived at The Rack a little later. Jessi and Josh helped Kyle get out of the car and walked him to a table.

"Kyle! What's the matter, are you okay?"

Everyone turned around and saw a very worried looking Amanda. She was also just coming to work like Josh. Jessi rolled her eyes. _Great…_

"I'm fine Amanda," Kyle said to her smiling. He was glad to see her. "I just hurt myself running."

"You hurt yourself running?" Amanda asked incredulously. Of course she didn't believe such a simple explanation after everything she now knew about him. She then looked to his side and saw why he said that. "Hi Hillary."

"Hey, Manda!"

Kyle really wanted to ask Amanda the same question he asked the others. "Hey guys can I please talk to Amanda alone for a minute?" he asked everyone. They all nodded and went to order drinks while Josh put his uniform on. Jessi however didn't move. She wasn't too keen on leaving Kyle and Amanda alone when she knew that he still loved her. "I'm staying," she said defiantly.

Kyle sighed. "Okay Jessi you can stay."

"So what really happened?" Amanda asked curiously.

"Exactly what I said. I damaged my body while running too hard," Kyle said.

"Running?" Amanda looked extremely doubtful. "You can jump off a roof without getting hurt but you finally pull a muscle from, what, not stretching?"

"By running he means sprinting faster than most people are capable of and he ran at that pace for several miles without stopping," Jessi explained. "He ended up passing out on Hillary's lawn. She said there was blood all over him."

"Blood?" Amanda was shocked. She turned to Kyle, "Kyle, what were you thinking? I know you're capable of doing all these amazing things but you're still only human!"

Kyle was a little tired of everyone telling him the same crap all day. He really didn't want to talk about this anymore. "Look Amanda I need to ask you something," he said to her.

Amanda's expression changed back from upset to curious again. "What is it?"

"Imagine there's this really bad guy who kills other people. Does that make it okay for some one to kill him?"

Amanda shook her head. "No because then that would make that person just as bad. Kyle you're not thinking about…"

"Of course not, this is all hypothetical, Amanda." Kyle said quickly. "But what you knew that if you spared that person he would just continue killing and harming more people. What if the world would be better off without that person?"

"Kyle that's what we have the police for."

"But what if there was no way to prove that this person was a criminal? What if the law can't touch him?"

"Kyle this seems awfully specific for just a hypothetical situation. Are we talking about Cassidy?"

Kyle didn't say or do anything but he really looked like he wanted to acknowledge it.

"Oh no, Kyle you can't!" Please you're better than that!" Amanda said a little loud causing Lori and Hillary to stop their conversation at another table and look at them.

"I won't," Kyle assured her.

"Then why are we even…" she looked at Jessi who stared back into her eyes hard.

"Jessi…" Amanda didn't know what to say. She couldn't reach out to Jessi like she could with Kyle. She actually sort of hated Jessi. But Amanda knew that Cassidy did something to Sarah. That night when Kyle explained everything to Amanda he told her that Sarah disappeared but didn't really get into details. That was the same night Amanda remembered Jessi calling Cassidy a murderer that night in Nate's dorm. _Oh my god, did he kill her mother? _

"What Amanda?" Jessi asked aggressively. She didn't like being stared at. And unlike Kyle she wasn't going to take a lesson in ethics from Amanda.

Amanda then did something that Kyle, Jessi, Lori, Hillary, Josh, and she herself never thought she would do. She hugged Jessi. "Jessi I'm so sorry for your mother. I know what it feels like," she said.

"Get off me Amanda," Jessi said angrily. "You have no idea how much pain I felt when I found out. He took everything from me!"

"He didn't take everything. You still have the Tragers. And Kyle," Amanda said to her trying to console her.

Jessi really was doing her best to not break down in front of the girl she hated. Amanda truly felt sorry for her. "Jessi I know what its like to lose a parent. My father died…"

"You still don't know what it feels like unless he was murdered," Jessi said no longer able to hold back the tears. "I'll give Cassidy what he deserves and no one can stop me, not you, not Kyle, nobody!" she sobbed.

"Think about Sarah, Jessi," Amanda said softly. "I know you didn't know her for very long but do you think she would want you to avenge her by doing the same thing that Cassidy did? Do you think it would make her happy to see her daughter become like the man who killed her?"

Jessi didn't say anything and continued sniffling. Amanda continued, "Jessi I believe your mother is in…a better place and she's watching over you right now. Killing Cassidy isn't going to make her feel better. Instead live your life in a way that would make her proud. Jessi you have an amazing gift. You could do so much to help the world. Don't you think that's the best way to honor Sarah's memory? You're her only daughter Jessi. Her legacy."

"How did…how did your father die?" Jessi asked tearfully.

"I have a better idea," Amanda said. "Instead of talking about their deaths, how about I tell you something nice I remember about my father and then you tell me something you liked about your mother?"

By now the whole place was quiet and staring at the two girls.

Amanda led Jessi to the counter to buy her whatever she wanted. "Josh can you cover my shift today?" she asked.

"Of course, no problem," he said without hesitating. "Just do what you have to do."

After Amanda bought Jessi what she wanted they both went to sit down at a lone table in the corner.

"Amanda," Kyle called her as they walked passed him.

"Yes?"

Kyle took a deep breath and said, "Thank you so much for doing this for her." Words could not express the amount of gratitude he felt towards Amanda right now.

Amanda nodded. "She needs me," she said.

**Well there it is I really hope you liked this chapter. I was really, really, really looking forward to writing that scene. Yeah I know some of you wanted Amanda to try and sabotage Kyle and Jessi's relationship but that kind of thing just doesn't fit her character, I'm sorry. She's too much of a goody-good. Next chapter Jessi and Kyle talk about the 'incident' that they are both so embarrassed about.**


	20. Chapter 20

**In this chapter Kyle and Jessi have that awkward conversation about what happened in Hills house. Also Foss has a story about Adam.**

Chapter 20

It was Tuesday. So far it still hadn't been a week since Cassidy came into the house and Kyle almost killed him. As soon as Kyle came back home from The Rack yesterday he went straight to sleep for about thirteen hours. His body hurt too much for anything else. Kyle struggled to get out of his tub. He could move easier now, he noticed, but it was tough. His entire body felt incredibly stiff. If he contracted or stretched his muscles too much it was very painful. Using the sides of the tub for support Kyle managed to get on his feet inside the tub. _Now for the hard part_, he thought. He grabbed one of his legs and tried to lift it out of the tub. But as he put all his weight on one leg he felt a very painful cramp in his hamstring, lost his balance and fell back into the tub.

Kyle groaned in frustration and contemplated on what to do next. Just then his cellphone started vibrating on the side of his tub. Ignoring the discomfort in his arm he reached for it and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Kyle," he heard Foss's gruff voice. "I know you're not stupid so what the hell is the matter with you? Why would you strain your body like that? You want to end up like Adam?"

Kyle sighed. Here it was again from yet another person. "Look, I'm sorry, I was just a little upset."

"Yeah well, now we can't go after Cassidy until you're completely healed," Foss said with disappointment in his voice. "That's going to give Cassidy time. He could find out that we took Han and move to another hideout. Without another lead we may never find him."

"So what are we going to do now?" Kyle asked feeling extremely foolish. Out of all of the people who criticized him for hurting himself, Foss was the only one who reminded him that he risked screwing up the mission which Kyle cared about greatly.

"Well I looked up that address that Han gave us on Google Earth. Kyle, it's just an ordinary building that's in plain sight."

"Really?" Kyle didn't expect that. He thought it would be some secret underground cavern or a hollowed out mountain or something like that. But a regular building in plain sight? "Does that mean Latnok is pretending to be a legitimate company?" he asked.

"Not exactly. It looks like a big corporation is very interested in buying your clones and is allowing Latnok to use their research facility for the cloning process.

"Which corporation is it?"

"I think you can guess."

"Madacorp…" Kyle said with his jaw clenched tightly. "Of course they would want my clones."

"They were the ones that decided it would be more profitable for Zyzzyx to keep you in the tank," Foss told him grimly.

"So what are we going to do now?" Kyle repeated his original question.

"There's nothing we can do right now. Just wait for your body to heal fully. If it ever does."

"What do you mean if it ever does?" Kyle asked him nervously.

"Kyle, I knew Adam since before I was even in the service. We knew each other in high school. The two of us and Brian Taylor used to be very close friends. I remember this one time Adam tried to impress some girl in the weight room by loading up more than eight hundred pounds on a barbell and then curling it. Most people can't even squat that amount of weight, I know I can't, and Adam tried to curl it."

"What happened?" Kyle asked listening intently. He had no idea that Foss, Adam, and Brian went that far back. Anything that had to do with Adam's past greatly interested him.

"He did it alright. He curled it once and impressed the shit out of everybody there, especially me, the hot shot football player. So he tried curling it again. That's when the bicep in his left arm was literally torn from his shoulder and rolled down his arm underneath his skin. He went into shock a few seconds later. We luckily got him to the hospital in time where they managed to reattach the muscle. However he never regained full use of his left arm again. It's just one of many ways Adam fucked up his body."

Kyle couldn't help but wince as he heard the grizzly details. He never thought Adam would do something reckless like that. Just thinking about it made his biceps hurt.

"Kyle, the human body is capable of incredible feats of strength that the brain only allows to be used in an emergency," Foss continued. "There's a reason for that. It's so that we don't damage ourselves by doing stupid shit like what Adam did." Foss said this with anger. "His brain was so advanced that he was able to bypass this safety feature and tap into his reserves whenever he wanted. He abused his brains ability and as a result he severely damaged his body. Think about the damage you did to your legs, or more importantly, your heart, when you forced yourself to sprint that entire distance."

"It was very stupid of me," Kyle agreed. "I realize my mistake. I promise I won't go beyond my body's limits ever again," he promised Foss.

"Just try to heal up as quickly as you can," Foss told him. "Don't do anything that you think might slow down the process."

"What about Madacorp?" Kyle asked. "Their headquarters is right here in Seattle. Should we go talk to Emily Hollander?"

"No!" Foss said sternly. "If she finds out that we know where the cloning facility is she might move Cassidy to another facility and Madacorp really has way too many in the world. We'd never be able to stop Cassidy then."

"And what if they find out about Han?" Kyle asked worried.

"Well I've made his death look like he was killed by a rival drug cartel. Hopefully Cassidy will believe it."

Kyle did not approve of that one bit. Foss had basically started a mob war in Seattle that would lead to many more deaths. But he decided to tolerate it. _What's done is done and it can't be taken back_.

"Foss you and I need to have a serious talk one of these days," Kyle told him. "But for right now I'll try to heal up as quickly as I can. Thank you for investigating and keep me updated." He hung up and resumed trying to get out of his tub.

Finally about ten minutes later Kyle managed to step out of his tub. He limped out of the room and walks into the kitchen where he found Nicole, Steven, and to his embarrassment, Jessi. Steven was saying something about her community service.

"So since you had a legitimate reason for missing yesterday you're just going to have to make it up later."

Kyle had barely even spoken to Jessi after that incident at Hillary's house. He was too scared to say anything. She seemed just as uncomfortable about what happened. For once she wasn't trying to listen to his thoughts. As soon as he came in she looked down.

"So, do you feel any better today?" Steven asked him. Both he and Nicole were told that he simply trained too hard. They had no idea how severe the situation was.

Kyle nodded. "I can move by myself now but it just really hurts every time I use or stretch most of the muscles in my body. Especially in my legs," he told Steven.

Steven nodded, "Damn you must have really pushed yourself," he said feeling a little proud of his son, "but you have to be careful. Do all your stretches before and after your work out, wear the proper shoes when running long distances, little things like can prevent big injuries like yours. Believe me I know all about athletic injuries from my college basketball days."

"Kyle here's your breakfast," Nicole said handing him some scrambled eggs and pancakes.

"Thank you," Kyle said with a grateful smile. He had barely eaten yesterday because his arm hurt too much when he moved it and he wasn't so keen on someone feeding it into his mouth. He sat down at the table but he was careful not to sit too close to Jessi. She noticed. As Kyle hungrily devoured his food he wondered what Jessi and Amanda had talked about at The Rack besides their parents that had passed away. Kyle never thought he would see the day when Jessi and Amanda would sit at their own table and talk for hours. He was really glad that they might finally stop fighting now. He hoped Amanda had convinced Jessi not to kill Cassidy because if she really wanted to do it, he certainly wouldn't stand in her way. Kyle wondered why he and Jessi were so similar but so different at the same time. When Zyzzyx shot Adam and almost killed him, Kyle still didn't want Tom Foss to kill them. Maybe Declan was right. Maybe he was too pacifist for his own good.

Nicole and Steven both stepped out of the dining room to get whatever they needed leaving Kyle and Jessi alone together. Kyle felt his heart beat increase rapidly and face felt very hot. He didn't say anything to her. He didn't know what to say. Luckily, Jessi decided to speak.

"So…are you just going to avoid me from now on?" she asked him.

"Jessi I'm…so sorry about…" Kyle began apologizing.

"You don't have to apologize," Jessi interrupted him "It's kind of my fault. I mean I did make it happen. And then I completely invaded the privacy of your mind."

"I'm sorry for thinking those…thoughts about you," Kyle said awkwardly.

"I talked to Lori about it," Jessi said. "She told me she's pretty sure that all guys think the same kinds of thoughts about their girlfriends and you're just the unlucky one with the girlfriend that can read your mind."

"So you're not mad then?"

"No I'm not mad. It was just…unexpected."

Right now Kyle was feeling like a total loser and Jessi could sense it. She sighed.

"Look Kyle, to be perfectly honest…I…I've had similar thoughts about you."

Kyle looked at her surprised.

Jessi was heavily blushing. "It's just a hormonal reaction caused by an instinct to mate and reproduce therefore increasing the chances of the survival of our species as a whole," she said very scientifically trying to play it off.

"Anyway I'm sorry for entering your mind without your permission. It won't happen again."

Nicole heard the last half of this conversation as she was coming back into the kitchen. As soon as she heard Jessi admit that she's had similar feelings she froze. When Jessi gave her scientific analysis on what the feelings meant Nicole knew that she might not be able to keep them apart much longer. Now, they not only wanted to have a relationship but they were even having sexual thoughts about each other? Of course, Kyle had given his word but Kyle was after all a teenager and teenagers tend to rebel. She just stood there outside the kitchen contemplating this when Steven came up to her.

"What?" he asked wondering why she was just standing outside the kitchen.

"We have to talk later when you come back," she told him.

"Okay, about what?"

Nicole glanced at the kitchen then quickly back to Steven. "Oh, okay, I see."

"Jessi, you ready to go?" he asked coming into the kitchen.

"Yeah," she said and the two of them left.

Nicole really didn't want to talk to Kyle before talking to Steven so she simply pretended that she didn't hear what Jessi said. She would talk to Steven and then together they would decide what to do about this.

Just then the door opened again and Steven and Jessi came back into the house.

Nicole looked at them and saw the expressions on their face. "What's the matter?" she asked them.

Steven swallowed before saying, "There's someone here who wants to talk to Kyle and Jessi."

Kyle heard him and limped out of the kitchen. "Who is it?" he asked. Steven walked to the door and told them to come in. Nicole gasped when she saw who it was but Kyle honestly wasn't surprised to see her since he spoke with Foss.

"Kyle. It's nice to see you again."

"Hello Emily."

**Sooo anyone else remember having the Kyle/Jessi conversation? Or was that just me? …anyway I want to make Emily Hollander a main character. I know some of you don't like how Jessi and Amanda have sort of made up, Kessi38, xxshyangel29xx, I'm sorry. But I just wanted them to stop fighting before the story ends and it is kinda close to the end. The only thing they have left to do is stop Cassidy and Grace and live happily ever after. Please review**


	21. Chapter 21

**Emily reintroduces herself while another character leaves the story. Kyle decides to be a rebel but because he is Kyle he decides to be an "honest rebel".**

Chapter 21

Steven was definitely not happy to see Emily Hollander. "You've come at a bad time. Not that any time is a good time for seeing you, but right now Jessi has to go to her community service."

"Jessi has community service?" Emily was surprised. "Jessi are you a troublemaker now?" she asked teasingly.

Jessi didn't answer. She was speechless. After all these months Emily had come back. Jessi didn't know what to think of Emily. Out of all her guardians Jessi had lived with Emily the longest and for a while she really did think of Emily as her older sister. But she hated the way Emily had treated her and how strict she was. Madacorp had programmed Jessi to fear Emily so she wouldn't turn against her when she could easily beat her up. Even though that fear had greatly diminished Jessi felt uneasy in Emily's presence and she hated that. She was different now and she wanted to show Emily that. She wanted to grab her by the neck and lift her up with one hand to show her that if she wanted to she could easily kill her. But first she wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Okay I'll be quick," Emily said. "Kyle, Jessi, I came to warn you about Madacorp."

"Warn us? Oh I think we already know what Madacorp is about." Steven said angrily.

Emily sighed. "Kyle, Jessi, could I talk to you guys in private?" she asked them.

"Absolutely not!" Steven shouted. "You come to my house and expect to talk to my children without me being present?"

"They're not really your children," Emily said rolling her eyes.

"How dare you say that!" Nicole was furiously. "They might not be related to us but we've loved and cared for them like they were our own children, which is something that you never did for Jessi."

"That's because I really didn't want to be her guardian. I had my own family to look after." Emily said nonchalantly. "Jessi was nothing more than my assignment. We can't all be like you Nicole."

Jessi was stung by these words. She knew she shouldn't care what Emily thought about her but still she was somewhat attached to her after spending almost eight months living with her. _I don't care what she thinks. I have my own family now, a real family,_ she thought. "What do you want?" she asked gritting her teeth.

"Some of the scientists who created you guys at Zyzzyx were part of some scientific organization called Latnok. We've recently been contacted by the organization. They're saying they can make clones of Kyle and are willing to sell them to just about anyone who'll pay and keep their mouths shut," Emily said.

"We already know all this," Kyle told her. "But why are you telling us?"

"You already knew this? How? Never mind…" Emily said smiling. "To answer your question, ever since I became CEO of Madacorp, I've been doing everything I can to put an end to the company's illegal activities. Unfortunately this has put me at odds with a lot of board members who say it's cutting into profits. After I refused to buy those clones the board decided they had enough and had me fired." Emily explained. "Brian Taylor has replaced me. He has a lot of connections in the board and he's completely willing to buy those clones."

Kyle looked at Jessi. "Is she lying?" he asked since his brain didn't allow him to hear any heartbeats for now.

"Well her heart beat is pretty constant," Jessi replied.

"My heart beat? Jessi you can hear my heart beat? Wow you've learned some new tricks," Emily said impressed.

Jessi couldn't take it anymore. Emily might not have been a bad person but Jessi hated her so much. She couldn't stand how Emily was acting so cocky like she thought Jessi still feared her. She decided to show Emily her favorite move. She grabbed her 'sister' by the throat and lifted her into the air shocking the hell out of her and then slammed her into the wall painfully. "Yes Emily, I have," she snarled still holding her up against the wall. Jessi felt so free, so powerful. Whatever fear she still had of Emily was now gone. Emily was struggling to breathe….

"Jessi that's enough you've made your point," Nicole said trying to hide the smile on her face. Emily certainly deserved it. Feeling satisfied Jessi released Emily who dropped to the ground and took deep loud breaths. She looked up at Jessi stunned. She definitely did not expect that to happen. This wasn't the same Jessi she had looked after for so long.

"I'm not your little sister that's afraid of you anymore, got it?" Jessi growled. Emily nodded nervously. She got up quickly. "I think I'll just leave now," she said making her way to the door.

"Wait you can't leave yet," Kyle said. "We need your help to bring down Latnok and Madacorp."

"I already told you everything I can't really help you out more than that," Emily said talking fast. She really wanted to get out of there. She was just about to walk out the door when it slammed shut all by itself without anyone touching it causing Emily to almost jump out of her skin. She turned around trying to look calm and composed but her heart rate told Jessi otherwise.

"He said you're not leaving," Jessi said sternly.

Emily didn't want to show any sign of weakness. She addressed Steven and Nicole. "You know it's illegal to keep me here against my will," she said trying to sound angry.

"Guys she's right, you can't keep her here. Just let her go," Steven said.

"Emily I don't intend to force you but we could really use your help," Kyle told her. "You saw how strong Jessi is. Now try to imagine what would happen if certain bad people decided to use her strength and intelligence for their own evil purposes. That's what's going to happen if Latnok sells my clones to anyone and everyone. Did you know that they were even planning to sell them to an organized crime syndicate?

"But I don't know how else you want me to help you," Emily said exasperatedly.

"Just come back at around 9 PM. You don't have to if you don't want to," Kyle said.

Emily sighed uncomfortably and thought long and hard about this. "Okay," she said finally. "But I better not get attacked again," she demanded.

"You won't," Kyle assured her.

Jessi loved how afraid she made Emily. She loved the feeling of power over someone who used to control almost every aspect of her life and made her miserable. She couldn't help herself as Emily walked out the door.

"Bye bitch," she said closing the door behind her.

"Jessi!" Nicole said appalled. "Where did you learn that word?"

Jessi shrugged. "I don't know. You can hear it everywhere." That was true.

"Jessi we don't use that language in the house, do you understand me?" Nicole said raising her voice.

"But Lori and Josh use it all the time," Jessi protested.

"Lori and Josh will be punished if we ever catch them saying it," Steven said to her. "Since this was your first time we'll let you off with a warning. But don't ever let it happen again. Are we clear?"

"Yes. I'm sorry."

She and Steven then left for her community service once again leaving Nicole with Kyle.

Kyle shook his head and said, "It's amazing. She used to be so quiet and reclusive but now she's becoming more and more like everyone else. I think she's already more like them than I am."

Nicole nodded. "Yes she seems to be taking on both the good and the not so good qualities of everyone around her."

This was followed by a period of silence in which both Kyle and Nicole wanted to talk to each other about the same thing but couldn't bring themselves to do it.

"Any plans for today?" she asked him trying to make conversation.

"I think I'll hang out with Declan."

"Declan? Kyle you guys aren't going to drink again, are you?"

"No. I already promised you we won't do that again. Or at least I won't be involved."

"That's good. One of your best qualities is your honesty. If you make a promise I know you won't break it." Nicole was using her psychology tricks to make Kyle feel guilty so he would tell her about his and Jessi's conversation. It worked. Kyle couldn't take this anymore. _It's better to openly disobey her than go behind her back and do it when she trusts me so much _he decided.

"Nicole I want you to know that Jessi and I are going to pursue a relationship together," the words burst out of his mouth.

"Kyle you can't! I already told you why. Kyle I trusted you."

"Yes that's why I'm being completely honest with you by telling you what we're going to do. You can still trust me."

Nicole didn't expect this. "So you think this is any better than lying? Just telling me that you're going to not listen to me anymore?"

"I'll still listen to you on all other matters but I'm very sorry I really love Jessi and I don't want to be dishonest so I'm telling you that this will happen. I'll still respect your rule about living in the same house and I'm willing to move out."

"Move out, where exactly?" Nicole asked scarcely believing that Kyle was straight up telling her that he was going against her wishes.

"Declan," Kyle said. "I can live with him for a few days till his parents come back from vacation. Then I'll ask Hillary if I can stay with her. Her parents will be back a few days after Declan's. Then I'll stay with Foss for the remainder of the summer. In just a few weeks I'll be living in UW anyway."

"Hillary?!" Nicole was flabbergasted. "And what is with all these rich parents going away on vacation and leaving their kids home alone? Kyle there is no way in hell you are going to stay with that girl without any parental supervision." Nicole knew all about Hillary.

"I'm with Jessi. I don't think Hillary would want to mess with her."

"Kyle, are you seriously thinking about spending your last few days at home away from your family?"

"I have no other option. I'm going to pursue a relationship with Jessi no matter what. I can't live in the same house as her. So either I or she will have to move out. And there's no way I'm going to deprive Jessi of a family. So the only other option is for me to move out. I'll still see you all every day."

"Please think about what you're saying," Nicole urged him.

"Believe me Nicole I always do." Kyle had nothing more to say. He of course hated just defying Nicole like that but it would be much, much, better than lying to her. He turned around and slowly limped out the front door leaving Nicole speechless inside.

As Kyle stepped into the cool early morning air he felt calm and confident about everything that he had just said. He sat down on the steps in front of the house and thought about what he was going to do about Cassidy. He wanted to heal as quickly as possible. Unfortunately he knew that it was going to take a while. Kyle could only hope that Cassidy wouldn't find out about what really happened to Han.

Kyle then thought about what Emily Hollander said. So Brian Taylor had come back to Seattle and was now the CEO of Madacorp. Out of all the people that Cassidy was offering the clones to Brian Taylor was probably the best person of the group. He wasn't really a bad person or at least he tried not to be. He sincerely regretted betraying Adam all those years ago. He just wasn't a very good father. As Kyle sat their thinking about everything he heard footsteps walking towards him. He looked up and saw Amanda smiling at him.

"Good morning!"

"Hi," he said back

She sat down next to him. "Why are you just sitting out here?"

"Well I can't really do much more for now," Kyle told her sadly.

"I noticed that you can walk by yourself now. That's good. Your body heals pretty fast doesn't it?"

"It might not be fast enough," Kyle said. "We know where Cassidy is. But we can't go after him without my body in peak condition. By the time I get better, he might move."

"Well can't Jessi go by herself? I'm sure she's strong enough," Amanda said. "She told me about the sort of training that you guys used to do."

"She probably is," Kyle said thinking of how Jessi and Foss managed to kidnap Han by getting around several heavily armed Triads. "But I don't want to take any chances. But what else did you guys talk about?"

"Kyle, you know I can't tell you that," Amanda said. "It was a private conversation."

"Oh, I see. Well I'm just glad you guys aren't fighting anymore."

Amanda didn't say anything. She still resented Jessi for taking Kyle away from her. But she would never admit that.

"So I take it you're still pretty set on going to UW?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Yes. Adam and Sarah both went there so Jessi and I are also going."

Amanda was disappointed that the conversation had once again gone back to him and Jessi. "Oh that's good," she simply said.

She took a deep breath. "Kyle I'm leaving today," she said. "I just want to thank you so much for helping me pass that recital. I couldn't have gotten accepted into without your and Jessi's help and I can't believe I dumped you for it."

Kyle was stunned at the news. "It's okay Amanda. You didn't know. I completely understand. But why didn't you tell me you had to leave sooner? We never got a chance to hang out."

"Well we were supposed to yesterday," she said. "After we came back to your house everyone stayed up all night talking and watching some movies. We had a lot of fun. I said goodbye to everyone then but by then you were already asleep."

"Amanda I want you to know that even though we're not dating anymore I will always love you." Kyle said feeling sad that she was leaving and he wouldn't see her for a long time. He felt stupid for falling asleep and missing everything that happened.

"And I'll always love you Kyle," Amanda said back hugging him. "Jessi is lucky to have someone like you who'll always be there for her. Take good care of her. Who am I kidding of course you will. Goodbye."

"I thought you didn't like to say goodbye," Kyle reminded her.

"Oh, right. See you later then," she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't forget to call once in a while." She then got up and walked back to her house.

**And that's the last of Amanda. I really like Amanda but I just want to get everyting out of the way before the final battle. Emily's gonna be one of the good guys. She's going to join the Kyle, Jessi, Foss, Declan team. Good to hear from you Faith. I hope you liked how Jessi reacted to her sister. If you didn't don't worry they'll eventually start getting along. Abby it's nice to here from you too. Kyle and Jessi go to college after they defeat Cassidy. I don't know how much of that I'll write though because by then the story will be pretty much complete.**


	22. Chapter 22

**The team discusses what to do next while Steven and Nicole discuss Kyle and Jessi's rebellion. **

Chapter 22

"And what then what did you do?"

"I showed her my signature move."

"You have your own signature move? Which one's that?"

"It's when I grab someone by the throat like this…relax I'm not actually going to do it, and lift them up into the air with only one hand. Not only does it choke them but it scares the hell out of whoever is watching. Anyway I held her up in the air and then slammed her into the wall."

"Wow nice! And what did she do once you put her down?"

Jessi imitated Emily on the ground by clutching her throat pretending to gasp for air.

Declan laughed loudly. "Yeah that'll teach that bitch not to mess with you ever again."

"Oh by the way I almost got into trouble for calling her a bitch. Nicole and Steven were really mad."

"You know if only Kyle could have as much balls as you…"

Kyle tried his best to ignore the retarded conversation Jessi and Declan were having. Those two really did have a lot in common. He could see why they used to be interested in each other.

Next to him Foss was looking very agitated. "You're sure that she wasn't lying?" he asked again for the, even Kyle didn't know which, time.

"Foss, relax." Kyle said trying to calm him down. "Jessi said her heart rate was more or less constant."

"Wait that's why you think she wasn't lying? Kyle you know how easily people can fake that?"

"Not when they're scared," Jessi said joining the conversation. "And trust me that bitch was pretty scared."

"Okay Jessi you really are over using the hell out of that word," Kyle told her.

"Don't worry, I can teach you plenty more," Declan told her and sniggered together at Kyle's reaction. Kyle shook his head in frustration.

"Okay there's her car," Jessi said suddenly and everyone got quiet.

Emily Hollander's car that Jessi had ridden in many times had pulled up outside the Trager house where they were all waiting for her. Emily parked the car and got out. She walked up to Foss's truck which they were all waiting outside. She looked at Foss and Declan but didn't make eye contract with Jessi. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

"Hello Emily," Kyle greeted her. He was the only one. Jessi and Declan stared at her coldly while Foss looked like he was ready to slit her throat. She did after all aid in torturing him.

"So is this the dream team?" she said sarcastically. "You guys are going to bring down Latnok all by yourselves, huh?"

"We fought through a casino full of Chinese gangsters armed with machine guns, kidnapped their leader, and tricked him into telling us where Cassidy is hiding, by making him think that we were on his side," Declan said indignantly. "So keep underestimating us. Especially after Kyle and Jessi exposed you guys for what you were and had your boss arrested."

Emily was amused. "Well that sounds pretty impressive kid. So how much of that stuff did you actually do? Or did you just let your girlfriend do all the work?" she taunted.

Declan couldn't say anything in response. He looked down at the ground feeling small.

"We're not dating anymore," Jessi told her. "I'm with Kyle now. And Foss is training Declan to replace him someday."

"I bet you guys are a perfect match for each other." Emily said without looking Jessi in the eye. "And you're training him, Tom? What do his parents think about that?"

Foss didn't want to talk to Emily unless he had to so he remained silent.

"Okay we're going to an abandoned warehouse a few miles from here," Kyle told her. "Just follow Foss."

"An abandoned warehouse…" Emily repeated shaking her head. "Please don't tell me that's your hideout."

They drove down to the warehouse. Once they got there Foss got on the computer and looked up the Madacorp building on Google Earth. "Alright here's your building that Brian's allowing Latnok to use. We need the complete internal layout of the building floor by floor."

Emily shook her head. "How am I supposed to get this? I don't work there anymore."

"Well you need to ask for your job back. Pretend to fully cooperate with everything they do." Kyle told her.

"What? No way. I can't. Sorry Kyle I'm not going back."

"Emily do you really want Paige to grow up in a world where people like Kyle and I are used to enforce the rule of some dictator. An army of his clones in the wrong hands could cause a lot of destruction. Do you really want that type of dystopia to become a reality?" Jessi asked her.

"I know you've seen Star Wars Episode III," Declan said.

As soon as Jessi said Paige's name Emily began considering what Kyle said. She didn't want to her daughter to grow up in that kind of world at all. "But even if I beg for my job back, they'll probably bust me down to some really low position. I won't have the clearance to get that type of information."

"Well you just need to memorize the inside of wherever they post you. Once know where everything is, you just need to help either me or Jessi get into the building and we'll be able to hack into the company's network and get those blueprints."

"So basically I have to swallow my pride and beg that asshole Brian Taylor for my job back, then work in some crummy position for however long it takes me to memorize where everything is, that's if he even lets me work there, and then help you guys break into a corporate office and steal valuable information off the computer?"

"That's the best way we can stop Cassidy. There's no doubt that facility will be heavily guarded. We'll need to know our way around the place before even going in." Kyle said. "In the mean time I'll try to heal up the best I can."

"I can't believe I'm doing this for you guys…" Emily said.

"You're not. You're doing it for your daughter." Kyle reassured her.

"All right, Kyle. I'll try to get my job back. We should all exchange numbers or something so we can contact each other for updates."

All four of them exchanged numbers with Emily. "Well if that's all then I'll call it a night," she turned around and started walking out of the warehouse when Kyle stopped her.

"Emily," he called her. "It's good to have you on…"

"Shut up Kyle," Jessi interrupted him. It most certainly was not good to have Emily on her side.

Emily finally made eye contact with Jessi. She gave her a piercing stare but Jessi was unfazed. She gave Emily an equally hard look. "What do you want?" she asked daring her to piss her off again.

"Was it really that bad?" Emily asked her trying to understand why Jessi felt so much hostility for her. "Was I really that horrible to you for those eight months that you hate me so much for?"

"You said it yourself," Jessi told her. "I was just an assignment to you."

"Jessi I was bluffing," Emily said feeling guilty for saying that. "You were more than an assignment. I lived with you for eight months Jessi. You can't do that without building some kind of a bond."

"Yeah well those eight months were horrible. You never let me go out and make friends. You never let me do anything I wanted and the only reason I listened to you because I was afraid of you and I never really knew why. You controlled me through fear Emily and when I started getting out of control you took me to Madacorp and reprogrammed me to fear you even more. I was so lonely and confused."

"I'm sorry Jessi but I was only doing my job. I couldn't risk you getting distracted by the regular things that teenagers get distracted by. And I really didn't have a choice in the matter. At one point I wanted to quit but that bastard Ballantine threatened my daughter. Not directly of course. Kind of like how you did when you made me tell you everything. I know it's way too late but I'm sorry for getting in the way of your relationship with him," she said turning towards Declan.

"But seriously kid, you were making out with my sister on the couch nearing second base. Before you blame me for kicking you out think about what any parent or guardian would have done."

She left in a huff.

_Damn she looks cute when she pouts like that_ Foss thought. Of course he would never, ever, EVER, say that out loud.

"You guys made out on the couch and almost got to second base?" Kyle asked trying not to sound too jealous. He knew what all the 'bases' were from Josh.

"Kyle, it doesn't matter what me and Declan did. That's in the past. I'm with you now." Jessi reassured him.

"Yes Jessi. Of course you are. It's just…now I know where you learned to kiss like that…"

"Well this conversation is getting a bit too awkward for me so I think I'm just gonna leave two alone…" Declan said hastily stepping out of the warehouse.

"No Declan. The conversation is over. Let's go to your house now," Kyle told him.

"I still can't believe you're moving out," Jessi said smiling. "That was so cool of you. I never that thought you of all people would just rebel like that. But then again you just told Nicole everything that you're going to do, so I guess I shouldn't be that surprised," she teased him.

"I did it for you. So we could be together."

"Yeah I know," Jessi was blushing now. She was so happy that Kyle would actually go this far just to be with her. She thought it was incredibly romantic. She pulled out her cellphone and called Nicole.

Declan shook his head. "Only you bro. Only you would tell your parents before breaking their rule. What the hell is the point of that?"

Kyle shrugged. "I didn't want to lie to them," he simply said.

"Hello, Nicole? I'm going to be spending the night at Declan's house. Okay bye."

"Jessi wait!" Nicole protested but Jessi had already hung up. She turned off her cellphone.

Nicole was very frustrated. "That was Jessi," she told Steven. "She called me up and told me, get this, not asked, but told me that she's spending the night at Declan's house with Kyle."

"Well that doesn't surprise me at all. She's Jessi. But I can't believe that Kyle would just openly go against us like that. Well I suppose it's not as bad as him lying and going behind our backs…" Steven was saying.

"This isn't much better!" Nicole snapped.

"You're right. So what do we do now? You're the psychology expert. You got some tricks to make him feel guilty or what?

"That's kind of what got us into this mess in the first place," Nicole admitted. "I praised his honesty hoping it would get him to tell me whatever he's keeping from us but instead he decided that it's okay to go against us as long as he isn't lying to us…"

"Oh, well that's just great," Steven said giving up. "You know maybe we should just let them be together. I mean they're not related at all. And have been through a lot together. They have a pretty solid connection."

"Steven, that's like him and Lori being together. They're not related either but they're still brother and sister aren't they?"

"Yeah but Kyle accepts Lori as his sister. They've been living together for two years now," Steven said. "Jessi's only been here for a little longer than a month. Kyle never really thought of her as a sister."

"But they live in the same house, Steven!" Nicole desperately tried to make him understand.

"Well, not anymore they don't. Kyle moved out didn't he?"

"Steven, are you seriously okay with Kyle moving out?"

"Of course I'm not okay with it but I can accept it. I mean he's only got like three more weeks before he'll anyway have to move out, right?"

Upstairs Lori and Josh listened to their parents arguing.

"Wow I can't believe Kyle is actually moving out because he wants to be with Jessi so bad." Lori said.

"I can't believe he was dumb enough to tell mom instead of just living here and banging Jessi without her knowing."

Lori smacked him behind the head. "Eww…That's your sister you're talking about, perv."

"So we'll still see him like every day right?" Josh asked rubbing his head.

"Yeah apparently," she said. "He left all his clothes here so he's probably going to come here in the morning to shower and change and then leave again."

"And now Jessi's spending the night over at Declan's with Kyle. Gee I wonder what two people who don't require sleep do to keep themselves occupied all night." Josh said smiling. "Nah I'm just kidding they'll probably be up doing math problems or something like that."

"I somehow doubt that," Lori said. "This is Jessi we're talking about not Amanda. You saw the way she was on top of him on the couch at Hillary's house didn't you?"

"Yeah I wonder where she learned that."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Declan of course…"

They continued spying on their parents.

"Okay I didn't want to tell you this but they're having sexual thoughts about each other, Steven. I heard them talking about it! You're really okay with them spending the night over at Declan's place?"

Steven let that sink in for a few seconds. His fatherly instincts began taking control of his brain as he thought of Jessi losing her virginity. "We can't let that happen!" he said furiously. "But I don't even know where Declan lives. Do you?"

Nicole shook her head. "But Josh and Lori do."

Josh and Lori looked at each other and panicked. "Uh oh..." Lori said

"Quick, hide!" Josh told her and the two of them scampered off.

**Now I gotta think of a Kyle/Jessi moment for the next chapter and I really suck at writing those. So it may take a while. Anyway next chapter, Emily gets goes back to work at Madacorp while Jessi helps Kyle heal up ASAP. TMH09 it is awesome to hear from you because I really like your story. Abby I'm really going to try my best to write a good Kyle/Jessi moment but it's probably not going to be as good as the other stories. I'll do my best.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Steven and Nicole are furious. Jessi and Kyle are finally free to do what they want. Emily gets a job at Madacorp while Kyle continues to heal and his relationship with Jessi grows. So you know how in the 22 chapters I wrote it only covers like a week? Well in this chapter time goes by fast. The reason being nothing really interesting happens in the next few weeks.**

Declan knew what Kyle and Jessi were going to do now so he just left them alone and turned off all the lights and other electrical equipment in the house just to be safe. _They can see in the dark anyway_ he thought as he walked downstairs and went to a part of the house as far away from them as possible. He didn't want to be directly under the room they were in. For all he knew the ceiling might come crashing down on his head or something… He thought about the mission.

So now that Emily was going to ask to work at Madacorp three things could happen. Brian Taylor would give her a high ranking position from which she could easily get the layout of that facility near Phoenix. Or she ends up with some shitty position which would still be okay because she could help one of the pod kids sneak in and they would steal the information from the computers. _Or _Brian Taylor would be a dick and not even give her the job in which case they'd have to charge into the Latnok facility without knowing what is where. He thought about how Emily mocked him for not actually doing anything which was true. _I hope I actually get to do something this time_ he thought.

Declan thought about all the things that could go wrong though. He remembered hearing the sounds of machinegun fire when Kyle high tailed it out of the casino parking lot. Jessi and Foss almost got shot but they luckily managed to escape thanks to her abilities and his military training and combat experience. Declan didn't have anything going for him though. _If that'd been me in that situation I would have been fucked. I would have ended up in one of those rooms Jessi told me about…_­­­­­

He wondered what Lori what think if he died on one of these missions. He could picture her yelling at his tombstone while sobbing… _You fucking idiot I told you, I told you!_ Even though he didn't want to, Declan really, really liked her in more than just a friendly way. But she had chosen Mark and he had to accept that…_Oh well at least I have Jamie_ he thought. He decided to give her a call. Just as he pulled his phone out it started vibrating in his hand.

It was a text message from Lori. "Parents coming. Pissed. Sorry." Declan rolled his eyes as he got up. _Why didn't she just text Kyle? _ Since the Tragers and Declan lived within walking distance he knew they could get here by car real fast. He walked over to tell Kyle and Jessi when he tripped over something in the dark and fell bumping his head on his door. "Ouch!" _Why the fuck do I even gotta get involved in this?_

The reason why was because Kyle and Jessi had both turned their cellphones off so they couldn't be contacted by Steven and Nicole. Unfortunately Lori couldn't warn them either while they were vigorously kissing away upstairs in Declan's parents' room while Declan was thinking about everything.

_It's a good thing Declan had turned off all electrical equipment _Kyle thought as he felt the electricity tingle through his body as his tongue entered inside of Jessi's mouth. He no longer needed to restrain himself. Finally he was free. He felt Jessi's mind on the edge of his mind waiting for permission to see what he was thinking. He stopped kissing her and looked at her reluctantly.

"Kyle it's okay. It's just our hormones. It's totally natural for our age. I told you I've had those thoughts too."

"So you won't mind if you see them again?"

"Well how about I let you see mine at the same time?" she said playfully. Kyle went back to kissing her. Images flashed through their minds as they both were thinking about the same thing. Kyle loved the way Jessi could kiss. Never mind where she learned it from…

"Um, Kyle? Maybe you should like kiss around my neck. Like a little above my collarbone. I see it on TV a lot." Jessi suggested.

"Uh, yeah sure. I can do that." Kyle said. He began kissing her on the neck like she asked. Jessi closed her eyes and enjoyed how great his lips felt on her skin. Unsure of what to do next Kyle slid his hands under her shirt and caressed her skin, slowly moving his hand up to her chest while she did the same to the muscles on his back. "Hey Jessi, maybe this would be easier if both of us took our shirts off," Kyle said.

"Yeah I think that would be a good idea," Jessi agreed. They both wriggled out of their shirts and threw them off the bed.

"This is better," Jessi said as she ran her hands along his muscles feeling that incredible electric tingle _I've been waiting so long for this ever since he chose me over Amanda_. They vaguely heard a noise like something just fell in the house. Jessi heard Declan say 'ouch' as he bumped his head.

"I think Declan just tripped in the dark," she giggled. She and Kyle resumed kissing each other passionately and exploring each other with their hands paying no attention to the noise of screeching tires as a car turned into Declan's driveway moving way too fast for a residential zone.

Declan banged on the door. "Yo! I just got a text from Lori telling me your parents are coming and they're pretty pissed." As soon as he said this, the three of them heard the front door banging loudly while the doorbell rang several times. "Great. I'll try to stall for you guys," he said before slowly walking downstairs taking his time.

Kyle and Jessi hurriedly put their shirts back on. "Great." Kyle said. "Now what do we do?"

Jessie looked at the window and then looked back at Kyle questioningly.

Declan meanwhile walked down the stairs at a nice easy pace. The doorbell ran several more times in a row while they banging continued. _Tell you what Mr. and Mrs. Trager, every time you ring that annoying door bell I'm just going to slow down even more _he thought. _I'll just tell them I was in the bathroom or something._ As he moved down the stairs slower and slower with a smug look on his face he noticed Steven glaring at him through the window. "Oh shit!" he yelled and ran down the stairs. "Damn it why'd I have to turn the lights on?"

He got to the front door and unlocked it but before he could open the door Steven pushed it open with such force he knocked Declan on the floor. "Hi Mr. Trager!" Declan greeted him smiling while lying on the floor.

Steven knelt down and grabbed him by the collar. "I know they're here! Where are they? Where's Jessi?" he growled.

"I don't know man, they're somewhere in this house!" Declan answered frantically.

Steven let go of him. "Nicole let's search upstairs! They're probably in one of the bedrooms." Both of them ran up the stairs leaving Declan on the floor. Lori walked into the house with a very anxious look on her face.

"Oh my god I am soo sorry," she said helping him up. "I hope I warned them in time. I tried texting Kyle but I figured he probably turned his phone off like Jessi."

"So Trager, I have like never seen your dad that mad before," Declan said still shook up.

"Yeah well, he's currently in overprotective father mode all because my mom told him that Kyle and Jessi were thinking about each other in new ways if you catch my drift."

After checking all the other rooms upstairs Steven and Nicole went to the last door only to find it locked. Steven pulled out his credit card and went to work while Nicole smiled and shook her head. As soon as it was unlocked they opened the door and ran inside only to find it empty with the window open. "Oh my god they didn't…" Nicole said in disbelief. They both ran to the window and stared into the moonlit night outside.

"Kyle! Jessi!" Nicole called them but the only sound she heard back was the crickets. Kyle and Jessi ignored her as they continued to make out behind some bushes right next to the house.

"We just want to talk to you!" Steven yelled into the night. Still no response.

"Guy's you can still be together if you live in our house!" Nicole yelled. She looked at Steven and he nodded. They had decided that this was the best way. At least this way they could keep Kyle and Jessi from having sex.

Kyle and Jessi stopped kissing. "Does she mean that?" Jessi asked Kyle. Kyle stood up and came out of hiding.

"Oh there you are!" Nicole said relieved. "Where's Jessi?" She stood up and came behind him. "Oh good, thank god. Stay right there we're coming down."

Steven and Nicole went downstairs and outside where Kyle and Jessi were standing.

"What the hell were you guys thinking? You have any idea how much you worried us?" Steven scolded them.

"What's there to worry about?" Kyle asked confused. He and Jessi weren't in any danger. They had told their adoptive parents exactly where they were going.

"Kyle, look. We don't approve of your relationship. But we'll tolerate it. You can still live in our house and date each other as long as you follow certain rules," Nicole offered a compromise.

Kyle and Jessi looked at each other. _Well that sounds reasonable doesn't it?_ Kyle asked.

_Ask them what kind of rules though. _Jessi told him.

"What rules do you have in mind?"

"Absolutely no sex!" Steven said forcefully before Nicole could even say anything.

They looked at each other again and agreed that they could live without it. At least until they were in UW.

"What else?" Jessi asked.

"Um…well…how about we discuss them on the way home?" Nicole said. The truth was that she and Steven didn't even think about the rules because they were so focused on stopping Kyle and Jessi just in time. "Oh and Kyle, Jessi, I think it's time we gave you both 'the talk'."

Kyle and Jessi looked at each other confused while they followed their parents to the car.

"So are we now going to go back to not talking to each other?" Declan asked Lori.

Lori sighed. "Declan I don't want to be mad at you. But you understand why I feel this way right? I just don't want anything bad to happen to you. I'm sure you know more than anyone else how dangerous Kyle's life can be," she said referring to when he almost snapped his ankle running from the Madacorp guards when he helped Kyle steal Ballantine's Latnok ring.

"Yeah I know what you're saying Trager. But that's kinda what I like about rolling with Kyle, you know? The action, the adventure, the mystery, all that cool shit that I used to help him with. Everything else seems so boring now. Except basketball but I can't really do that anymore so…"

"So you're doing this because you're bored? Oh my god. Now that's a stupid reason. And here I was thinking you were so loyal and attached to your best friend or some crap like that."

"Well that too…"

"Lori come on we're leaving," Steven told her. Before he left he gave Declan a warning look.

Lori looked at Declan sadly. "So there's no way I can convince you to not do this?"

Declan grinned slyly. "Well actually, I can think a few ways."

Lori playfully punched him. "No seriously!"

"No Trager, there's no way you can convince me."

"Well okay then. If this is what you really want…good luck," she wished him. Just then the car horn started beeping.

"Jeez I'm coming, what the hell dad!" Lori said as she ran out of the house.

The next day Foss was awakened by his cellphone ringing. He picked it up with his eyes still closed. "Hello who's this?"

"Tom? This is Emily. Are you okay? You sound really tired."

"I'm just waking up."

"Um…right. Listen I wanted to tell you that I got a job at Madacorp."

Foss sat up with his eyes wide open.

"Yeah like I expected it's some really shitty job with low pay but at least it's temporary…"

"You know what? Why don't we meet up and we can discuss everything in person instead of over the phone." Foss said

"Um…okay. Why though?" Emily asked curious.

"Because I'm much better at explaining things in person than I am over the phone. And I'm hungry. I didn't get much to eat last night. So why don't we meet at like a Dunkin Donuts and grab some breakfast and a coffee?"

"You obviously didn't get to sleep much either because its noon right now," she told him.

"Oh…well that's even better. Let's meet up for lunch. I'm starving."

"Uh…okay…"

The next few weeks went by quickly. Unlike all the events that had taken place in the week after Kyle's abduction nothing interesting seemed to happen. Every night when Jessi came home from her community service she went to Kyle's room and used her abilities to help him heal quicker until she was so exhausted they'd fall asleep in the tub together. Because Jessi was helping Kyle heal, some of the load was taken off his brain and he slowly began to get all his abilities back. And because the door was always left unlocked, one of the rules, Nicole or Steven would come in to check on them to make sure they weren't doing anything they weren't supposed to. They didn't. They were now allowed to go out on dates to the movies or wherever as long as they made it back by curfew which they always did. Jessi loved eating at that diner where Adam and Sarah used to hang out. She always sat at the same spot where they had carved out their initials and of course she always played "She could be you". She loved that song even more than Avril Lavigne which she still liked from the Madacorp days.

Declan in the meantime devoted all his time to training with Foss. This only increased after Jamie dumped him after she found out he wasn't really twenty-two or a med student or any of the bullshit he told her when they first met. Aside from simply keeping him in excellent shape, Foss trained him in hand to hand combat, and how to use different kinds of equipment like the tiny cameras that he once planted all over Kyle's house. Much to Declan's frustration however, Foss felt that Declan wasn't ready to handle firearms yet. Declan took all his training seriously because he really wanted to help out in their next mission instead of just sitting in Foss's truck while Kyle and Jessi did all the work. Things with Lori began to get better too as she understood why Declan would want to be Kyle's body guard. She also cared about Kyle a lot.

Whenever Foss was not training Declan he was spending more and more time with Emily. They were slowly becoming close. They had a lot in common besides being ex military. Foss had unfortunately lost his wife and daughter in that accident while Emily's husband had ran off with another woman while she was deployed overseas. Both Foss and Emily had a keen tactical mind that could think up plans on what was the best way to do something, like say, steal information from the Madacorp database in order to break into the Latnok facility. They might not have been as intelligent as Kyle or Jessi but they had much more experience thinking like that and they became the unofficial leaders of the team. Foss was actually able to forgive her for helping Ballantine torture him because she was basically forced to cooperate for her daughter. He remembered her urging Ballantine to stop.

Jessi on the other hand took a little longer to forgive Emily but the woman made a serious effort to regain her "sister's" trust after deceiving her for so long. She was truly sorry for how miserable she had made Jessi. She even invited Jessi back to her house to play with her daughter Paige. She introduced Jessi to her mother as her sister much to her mother's confusion. Jessi, as it turned out, loved little kids, probably because she never was one and she found them fascinating. She entertained Paige by drawing incredibly detailed pictures with crayons. Jessi soon started warming up to Emily and so did Declan. Kyle watched happily as the team members got closer together which would help them out a lot in the very near future.

Finally Emily was pretty confident that she knew her building and was ready to help Kyle and Jessi break in. By this point Kyle's body had healed to the point where he could move around quickly without feeling incredible pain, although he was still very sore but he could easily tolerate that.

"Okay here's what's going to happen," she said. "I'm going to stay at work extra late tomorrow night and pretend to finish up whatever I was working on. At around 10:00 there should be no one there. Not even the Janitors. You both," she said to Kyle and Jessi, "are going to come to the main entrance but be ready to do your camera static trick because there are two watching the entrance. I'll open the door from the inside. I'll let you know where all the camera's are so you can do that thing of yours and I'll lead you to my bosses room where you can get on his computer and log on to the company database. You might find what you're looking for there."

"But won't there be a password for logging in to the company's database?" Foss asked.

"Well yeah of course. But Kyle and Jessi should be able to hack into it. I mean you hear it on the news every now and then, how some geek managed to hack into a banks mainframe and steal millions of dollars. So it should be no problem for these two whiz kids." Emily looked at them hopefully.

"We'll try," Kyle said nodding.

"We'll meet here tomorrow as soon as Jessi is done with her community service," Foss said. "Once we know the inside of that Latnok building we go down to Phoenix and stop Cassidy once and for all."

**I purposely tried making the Kyle/Jessi moment as awkward as possible to be realistic because both of them are very inexperienced and they never went that far before so they're like two 14 year olds experimenting. I also tried to make it kinda funny with Declan and the parents. Now the whole Foss/Emily thing…Guys I don't even know where I'm going with that. I just saw another story on this site where Kyle and Jessi like set them up for a date so I felt like including that in here...they seem kind of compatible I guess… Next chapter Emily, Kyle, and Jessi, steal what they need and then all that's left for them to do is go down to Phoenix AZ and kick Cassidy's ass. Let me know what you think.**


	24. Chapter 24

**I think this is my biggest chapter so far. Emily helps Kyle and Jessi break into the Madacorp headquarters to steal the information they need. But things don't go according to plan. **

Emily sat nervously in her office. She didn't expect this. As she sat at her desk pretending to work she glanced out the hallway at one of the security guards who was staring at her. He smiled and nodded at her, "How much longer is it gonna take?" he asked. Normally these guards would be patrolling outside the building. The inside was usually empty. However, tonight one of them was inside closely watching her as she pretended to type something on her computer.

"Almost done," she told him.

She pulled out her cellphone and looked at the time. 9:45 PM. No doubt Kyle and Jessi were already waiting outside the building for it to be 10:00 at which time she was supposed to open the door for them. But she did not anticipate this security guard to stay to watch what she was doing. He almost seemed to know that she was up to no good and were waiting for her to do something. Brian Taylor must have warned them about her, she realized. Not only was he watching her as she worked but whenever she left the office to go to the restroom the guard actually followed her through the hallway. At one point she turned around and pretending to be angry she asked, "Why are you following me?"

"I think you know why Miss Hollander. There's a lot of sensitive research going on in this building and information that other companies would pay millions to get their hands on. We can't trust anyone. Not even the employees. Not saying that you're up to no good but we have to follow protocol. Orders came straight from the boss."

Emily knew that was bullshit. All the other departments were locked and could only be opened by retina scan. She couldn't break into them even if she wanted to. This guy was obviously assigned to spy on her. _Taylor really is an asshole _she thought to herself. Emily had to think up a new plan. She walked over to the window in her office and opened it. It was three floors above the ground. _Could Kyle and Jessi jump this high? _Emily wondered. It seemed impossible but she remembered Kyle telling her how he could manipulate the gravitational field of his own body to make himself weightless and jump really high. As she looked down at the parking lot which seemed so far down she shook her head in disbelief. She really wanted to see them jump this but unfortunately she would have to lead the guards away.

"What are you doing?" the guard asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. I just had to get some fresh air," she told him.

She casually walked out of the office leaving the window open. As she walked to the bathroom the guard followed her just like she wanted him to. He waited outside while she went in. As soon as she was out of his sight she pulled out her cellphone and texted Jessi about the situation.

Outside Kyle and Jessi were patiently waiting outside the parking lot having a very interesting discussion.

"But Kyle, just imagine how much good we could do for the world! And everybody would be talking about us wondering who we were. It would be so cool!"

"Jessi, can I ask you where you got this idea from?" Kyle asked exasperatedly. He had unsuccessfully been trying to convince her that what she was suggesting was a terrible idea.

"Remember when we met L.K. Deekman at the rack? Well I asked him about those pictures that he always draws and…Kyle why are you rolling your eyes? Kyle I bet you can't even give me one good reason why we shouldn't be superheroes," she challenged him.

"Jessi, Deekman was talking about characters in comic books. There are no superheroes in real life. Real heroes are just ordinary people who do great things for others," he tried to make her understand.

"But some superheroes are ordinary people too!" she protested. "Like Batman. He doesn't have any powers. He just knows how to fight and he's really intelligent and so he invented all these ingenious gadgets, nothing we can't do ourselves. Plus we actually have some superpowers…"

"_Superpowers_?" Kyle said incredulously. Kyle really didn't think of himself as being superhuman. He was uncomfortable with the idea that he was superior to normal humans. But Jessi obviously loved being special.

"Well…abilities, whatever," she corrected herself. "But Kyle, with our intelligence and abilities we could be the world's first actual…hang on I'm getting a text message from Emily." She pulled out her phone and read it. She sighed.

"What is it?" Kyle asked.

"We can't go through the main doors. We have to jump through a third floor window. Let's jump on top of that gate and have a look."

Kyle nodded. "You first," he said. He turned to the camera that was watching over the gate. Just like Jessi taught him Kyle used his ability to mess with electricity to make lots of static interference in the cameras. "Okay, now!"

Jessi ran forward and gracefully jumped very high and landed on top of the gate to the parking lot. She was perfectly balanced on top of it. She then did the same thing to the camera allowing Kyle to join her up there. From there they could see the building and the parking lot clearly.

"So where's Emily's window?"

"Oh it's on the third floor on the left side of the building. It'll be a tough jump. Can you do it?" Jessi asked him.

Kyle nodded. "As long as we concentrate on manipulating the gravitational field of our body mass to make ourselves as light as possible and at the same time repel the gravitational field of the earth we should be able to jump that high. I've done it before when sabotaging the Latnok facility the first time and later when fighting those Triads in the woods."

They both focused on enhancing their vision at the expense of their other senses to look for cameras and found a whole bunch of them on the lampposts all over the parking lot. "Wow there's way too many of them," Jessi said shaking her head. "We can never get past them."

"You're right," Kyle agreed. "They've got every angle covered. There are no blind spots. No matter where we are we'll always be seen by at least one camera. And there's no way we can cause interference in all of them. How were we supposed to make it to the main door in the first place?"

"I guess Emily overestimated our abilities. I'll let her know there's no way we can sneak through the parking lot undetected," she said while texting Emily.

They waited a few seconds then got another text from Emily. Jessi read it out loud. "Okay, she says 'You two super geniuses got another plan or do we abort the mission?' I'll just tell her that we're going with the backup plan."

Kyle looked at Jessi like she was crazy. "Jessi the backup plan is stupid, no offense."

Jessi shrugged. "Yes it might be stupid. But I'm not. Don't you think I would have considered every other possibility before deciding on the backup plan? But maybe you thought up something I didn't," she asked him slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry Jessi. No I can't really think of another plan," he admitted. "I think we all underestimated how tight Madacorp's security is. I guess after me, Declan, and Foss broke in their last time they really overhauled it. We're going to have to do the backup plan. It's a good thing you brought those ridiculous masks with you," he said referring to the Chinese dragon masks that Foss had bought back at the casino.

Jessi smiled. "Told you we'd need them," she said as she put on her mask. She handed him his which he reluctantly put on. "Emily doesn't have a mask though. I guess once she helps us into the building we'll have to do the rest by ourselves. We can't let her be seen on camera helping us. Luckily I broke into Ballantine's office once so I know where it is."

He sighed reluctantly. "So basically we just charge through the parking lot without caring if they see us or not? That seems very…unintelligent.

"There's really no other option Kyle. We're just going to have to go in, steal the data, and get out as fast as possible. And I mean really fast because as soon as those cameras see us, the security guards will trip the alarm system's which alerts the police and I really can't afford to get into any more trouble with them than I already am."

Kyle looked over the parking lot anxiously. He was having a major adrenaline rush right now just thinking about what he was about to do. "We're about to break into the headquarters building of a major corporation, on camera, with masks on. You know, not counting the time when I almost ran my body to death, this has got to be the most stupid thing I've ever attempted," he told Jessi.

"Yeah? Well I almost killed myself while chasing after another car at 150 mph on the highway and raided a gangster owned casino so you'll be okay," she said while texting Emily. "Okay ready when you are."

They both took a deep breath. "Go!" Jessi yelled and they both jumped down from the gate and sprinted as fast as they could through the parking lot to the left side of the building. All of a sudden every light in the parking lot lit up brightly illuminating the whole area as they were caught on camera. They heard the sound of an alarm from inside the building. Kyle was startled by the bright lights and almost stopped running. _Don't slow down! _Jessi telepathically said to him.

Emily was patiently waiting in the bathroom when she got a text message from Jessi saying "We're coming in." Emily smiled to herself. It was amazing how smart Kyle and Jessi were. In just two minutes they had figured out a way to sneak past all the cameras outside. She wondered how...Just then the alarm went off. "What the hell?" she said out loud. The guard came running into the bathroom.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"I didn't do anything! I was just about to come outside when I heard the alarm," she said quickly hiding the phone.

He ran over back to her office while Emily followed him. This really wasn't going according to her plan. As they both looked out the window Emily couldn't believe it but Kyle and Jessi came running from around the corner of the building. They were clearly visible in the bright light and they were running extremely fast. Following them from far behind were several much slower security guards. _Damn it they must have been caught on camera _she thought. The guard pulled out his weapon and aimed it at them below.

_Oh no you don't! _Emily tried to grab the weapon from the guard's hands. "Hey what the hell are you doing you crazy bitch?" he yelled while trying to wrestle the weapon away from her. She kicked him in the groin and punched him in the face sending him falling back. She quickly grabbed the gun out of his hands and hit him on the head with it knocking him unconscious. She went back to the window and yelled at them below. "Kyle, Jessi! Get your asses up here!"

Emily knew that they could jump this high but to see it was incredible. Kyle and Jessi both crouched down and then shot up into the air like they were fired out of a cannon. The guards chasing them stopped dead in their tracks stunned by what they just saw. They both made it, barely. They managed to grab the ledge a few inches in front of the window. Emily grabbed their hands and helped them both in through the window one at a time. At first she was surprised to see both of them wearing masks but she quickly realized what that meant. "Wait a minute…you planned to charge in here like this? What the hell happened to stealth?" she asked furiously.

"Why didn't you tell us there were so many cameras?" Jessi demanded.

"I thought you both could handle it! I didn't know you were just going to charge in here like this!"

"Emily you need to get out of here," Kyle told her. "You can't be seen helping us on camera. Besides I know where Ballantine's old office is I broke into it once."

"That's not the CEO's office anymore," Emily said. "When I was boss I relocated it all the way to the top floor. You can't find it without me. Besides it's too late. I just attacked that guy," she said pointing to the guard. "When he wakes up he'll tell everyone I was helping you."

She led the way out of her office through the hallways. On the way they heard a voice behind them. "Freeze, don't move!"

The three of them stopped. "Put your hands up and slowly turn around!" the voice commanded. They did as they were told and saw two guards pointing weapons at them ready to shoot at the slightest movement. Luckily Kyle and Jessi didn't really have to move to use their abilities. He could feel Jessi listening to his thoughts waiting for the signal. _Jessi on three _Kyle thought. _One…two…_

Without any warning the guards suddenly went flying back several feet and crashed hard into the wall behind them. Before they could get back up the three of them ran off. Emily finally led them to an elevator. She was about to press the button to open it when Jessi stopped her. "Wait! They'll be able to see which floor we're on!"

"Well what do you suggest Jessi? That we run up the stairs for thirty floors?"

Before she realized what was happening Kyle grabbed Emily and threw her on his shoulders in a fireman's carry. "Kyle! What the hell are you doing?" Emily cried out startled. Jessi went inside the elevator and punched in the button for the lowest floor which was five floors underground. She got out before the door closed and the elevator began descending to its destination empty.

"That'll keep them distracted," she said. "Where's the staircase?" she asked Emily.

"Down the hall, last door on the right," Emily answered. "You're not actually thinking of running up thirty floors are you?"

But Jessi did exactly that with Kyle close behind. "Kyle, put me down, oh my god, slow down you're going to trip!" Emily yelled as Kyle ran up the stairs with incredible speed despite carrying Emily on his shoulders. She was petrified that Kyle would trip and both of them would have a nasty fall.

"Emily be quiet they might hear you," Kyle said angrily.

Emily couldn't believe it but for about thirty floors Kyle and Jessi sprinted up the stairs effortlessly without slowing down one bit. Emily didn't seem to be a burden on Kyle at all. The whole time she kept praying that he wouldn't fall. But she was stunned at how much stamina they had. In less than five minutes they reached the top floor of the Madacorp headquarters building which was the thirty third floor. They both ran out of the stairwell into the hallway where Kyle finally put Emily down.

"Don't ever do that again…" she said shaking with fear and anger.

"Where's Brian's office?" Jessi asked her impatiently. She didn't seem tired at all. Emily led them to a large room with many office desks and chairs. They followed Emily through the room all the way to the other side to a door.

"Well here it is," Emily told them. "My old office before that asshole Taylor moved in."

Jessi kicked the door down with her strength.

"Jessi, you didn't even check to see if it was locked," Kyle said wondering why she was so destructive sometimes.

"Who cares? It's Brian's office," she smartly replied. Kyle couldn't help but smile under his mask.

Emily quickly went inside and turned on the computer. "Okay guys, I've started it up for you. Now just do what you need to do. And please hurry up," she said with a sense of urgency.

Emily kept lookout while Kyle and Jessi did what they needed to do. She nervously went to the big glass window and looked down at the street below. She saw several flashing red and blue lights outside the building with more coming. "Shit…" she muttered. They were probably inside the building already and that security guard she had attacked had probably woken up and told the cops who she was. "This is just awesome," she said sarcastically. "I'm a criminal now."

She turned back to Kyle and Jessi who were busily working on the computer downloading what they needed onto their flashdrive. "Hey guys, there's cops all over the place, you might want to hurry the hell up," she nervously said.

"Hold on," Kyle said. "We've managed to get past his password now we're accessing his mainframe."

Emily sadly thought of her daughter and her mother. What would they think once they found out what she did? She wanted to help save the world but she wasn't planning on throwing away her life.

"Alright we're done," Kyle interrupted her thoughts. "We have what we need now let's get out of here!"

They all ran back the way they came through the large room when the elevator door opened and several cops came running out. Kyle, Jessi and Emily quickly hid behind one of the desks. The cops immediately swept the room with their flashlights.

"What was that? I just heard a noise."

"Yeah I heard it too."

"They could be hiding behind one of these desks. Let's spread out." They fanned out in the large room and began looking behind each and every desk.

"Hey somebody get the lights."

"John, do you have any idea where the light switch is in a big ass room like this?"

_Don't attack them. They're good guys who are only doing their job_ Kyle told Jessi telepathically.

This frustrated her. _Then how do we get past them, Kyle? _Jessi thought back annoyed. Normally she loved that he was always such a good and caring person but sometimes he could be such a goody good it just pissed her off. Declan was right. Kyle needed to be more aggressive. She spotted a chair a few feet away from her. Using her mental abilities she lifted the chair into the air so that it would be visible.

_Jessi what are you doing?_ Kyle asked warningly.

"Hey am I seeing things or is that chair just…floating in the air?" All the cops immediately pointed their flashlights at it.

"Okay…is this place like…haunted?"

"Relax I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for this. I mean we are in Madacorp. They probably invented some new kind of technology. It's creepy though it's just hovering in the air… LOOK OUT!

Jessi hurled the chair towards one of the cops who didn't manage to duck in time and got hit in the head and knocked on the ground. He didn't get back up.

_Jessi no!_ But Jessi ignored Kyle. She lifted up another chair and sent it flying towards the cops who managed to dodge it this time. As it went flying past them she stopped it in mid air. She just held it there.

Just as she expected the cops began uselessly shooting at the piece of furniture as if it really was haunted. Jessi took advantage of the noise from the gunshots. She jumped over the desk she was hiding behind and ran up behind one of the distracted cops. He heard her and turned around but was met with her fist.

Jessi ran behind another cop who heard her footsteps and turned around holding the gun straight out. Jessi ducked, grabbed his hands and pushed them up causing the gun to harmlessly fire at the ceiling. She quickly punched him twice in the stomach causing him to double over and then gave him a solid uppercut that lifted him off his feet.

"Hey! Don't fucking move, or we will fire! Put your hands up!"

Jessi knew they couldn't miss at this range so she put her hands up. She also knew that Kyle and Emily had managed to sneak behind the cops in the dark.

"Take that fucking mask off!"

Just then the cop who was the furthest away from her behind all the others dropped his flashlight and his body fell on the floor. Another cop turned around to see what happened when he saw Kyle standing right next to him. Kyle quickly disarmed him and twisted his wrist painfully pinning the man on the ground.

"Listen I'm so sorry for doing this but I'm not a criminal," Kyle apologized to him.

Jessi rolled her eyes. _Unbelievable…_

The last cop that was focusing on Jessi heard Kyle's voice and turned around and was just about to shoot him when all of a sudden Jessi used her mind to push him on the floor and send him sliding into a desk. He couldn't explain how she did it but he somehow knew that Jessi had caused it to happen. He angrily pointed his gun at her from the floor but at that moment Emily came out of the shadows and kicked the gun out of his hands. He grabbed her leg but she kicked him in the face a couple of times. She didn't like hurting the good guys either but she knew they had to get out of there and they were in her way.

She turned to Kyle who had knocked out his cop by now (finally) with a look of disbelief on her face. "Do you always apologize to people before hitting them?" she asked shaking her head.

"I bet he also apologized to the Triads," Jessi quipped

"Jessi I don't like hurting people," Kyle said defensively. "And these cops are only doing their jobs. We're the ones who broke the law by breaking in here."

"Yeah, we can have a very interesting debate about this later but for now let's just focus on getting out of here without being arrested or shot," Emily said hurriedly.

She immediately regretted saying that because Kyle picked her up again and quickly followed Jessi down the stairs. Emily thought that being carried by Kyle while he ran up the stairs was scary but it was much, much, scarier on the way down. Instead of actually running down the stairs, Jessi and Kyle simply jumped down each set of stairs in a single bound. For Emily, watching herself fly down the stairs from Kyle's shoulders was probably the most terrifying part of this whole damn mission. She really didn't want to think about what would happen if he landed wrong and she went flying into the wall. After about two minutes of jumping down the stairs Jessi stopped and held her hand up. Kyle immediately stopped. They heard several cops running up the stairs.

Kyle put Emily down. "Stay here we'll take care of this." He and Jessi ran down the stairs. A couple of seconds later Emily heard yells and grunts and even a few gunshots. Then she heard Kyle's voice, "Emily you can come down now." Emily laughed to herself relieved.

"The lower floors are probably full of cops," Jessi said. "They're working their way up. "They'll send more up here soon."

Kyle looked to the big glass window that covered the wall of the stairwell all the way from the bottom to the top. This was exactly where Tom Foss had gotten beaten down, the last time they broke into Madacorp. "We're four floors up. I think we can survive the jump. Although it might hurt a little." he said. Emily took one of the cop's guns and fired at the glass but the bullets couldn't even penetrate it. "Great. Bulletproof."

"Kyle I have an idea," Jessi said. "If we can make this glass vibrate at a very high frequency like an ultrasonic sound wave wouldn't that shatter it?"

Kyle liked the idea. "That's good thinking Jessi. Let's try it out." They both pressed their palms on the glass and closed their eyes concentrating. At first nothing seemed to happen but then Emily noticed thin cracks appearing near where their hands touched. The cracks began to spread out and get longer and branch off into more cracks. All of a sudden a large chunk of the glass shattered leaving a big hole in the window.

"Cool, I just discovered another superpower," Jessi said messing with Kyle. Kyle shook his head and grinned. Jessi jumped out the hole first. Kyle picked up Emily and jumped out after her.

"Kyle wait, no, hold on, wait, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Emily screamed all the way down.

Jessi and Kyle landed roughly since four floors was a little too high for them but Jessi knew how to take a fall and hit the ground rolling and was immediately back on her feet. Kyle on the other hand couldn't roll like that since he was carrying Emily. He hit the ground painfully and dropped Emily but luckily Jessi managed to catch her. "Ouch," Kyle groaned.

Jessi and Emily helped him up and the three of them ran towards the wall surrounding the Madacorp building.

"Hey there they are, I see them!" they heard someone yelling.

As soon as they reached the wall they stopped and turned around. Several cops were running towards them from a few hundred meters away with their weapons out. "Here I'll carry her this time," Jessi offered as she lifted up Emily who complained, "Oh not again…"

Kyle and Jessi crouched down and to the cops' utter bewilderment they jumped clean over the twenty foot wall which was topped with barbed wire. They landed on the other side right on top of a police car.

"What the hell is that?" the officer inside asked his buddy. The both quickly got out of their cruiser and looked at the top. There were two big dents. "What the…" they looked around them wondering what could have caused it. They saw a woman and two of her friends wearing masks looking at them from a few meters away. "Did you see what happened to my car?" he asked them. They all shook their heads and walked away. The cops didn't notice how almost every other person on the street had just stopped walking and was staring at the three of them like they had just done something impossible.

**I will admit I was kind of in a rush to write this and it probably shows. Look I gotta finish this story by this Thursday because after that I'm going away for a while without a computer. I just had to mention L.K. Diechman in my story. How are they gonna introduce this guy in the fifth episode, make it look like he's gonna be Kyle's best friend, and then never show him again. That just doesn't make any sense to me but then neither does cancelling the show and a lot of other things in life… Anyway please review and let me know what you think. **


	25. Chapter 25

**I put an ending on this chapter.**

"And then you told him you were _sorry_?" Declan asked his friend from the floor.

By now Kyle knew that the various acronyms that people used for internet chatting shouldn't be taken literally. A person might write LOL or ROFL to respond to something funny when in reality they didn't literally 'laugh out loud' or 'roll on the floor laughing'. Or so he thought until today. What could be so funny that it would make someone literally roll around on the floor with laughter? Apparently the fact that he apologized to a cop before beating him up.

"I don't like hurting people! Why does everyone have a problem with that?" Kyle asked feeling rather agitated.

Foss looked like he was truly at a loss for words. He just put his head down on the table and thought about how he could explain this to Kyle. Kyle saw this and felt very embarrassed with himself.

"Okay, you know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being so weak and I'm sorry for being such a failure and disappointment to everybody. Don't worry though at least you all still have Jessi." He was just about to storm out of the building when Jessi ran up to him.

"Kyle wait!" He reluctantly turned around to face her. "You're not weak. You're one of the bravest and toughest people I know. No one is making fun of you."

"Yeah we are!" Declan said still laughing. Jessi shot him a glare that immediately made him stop laughing.

"Kyle, you just…sometimes…you're a little…too…nice."

"Jessi, isn't being nice a good thing?" Kyle asked truly confused.

Jessi didn't know how to explain this to him. Usually he was the one giving her advice, or scolding, or consoling her. Luckily Foss figured out what he was going to say.

"Kyle, you're an intelligent kid, right? You have common sense right?" he asked.

"Yes…" Kyle answered him. He wondered where Foss was going with this.

"Well, from what Jessi and Emily told me, while you were busy apologizing to your opponent, his buddy heard your voice and almost shot you. You're lucky Jessi saved you in time. Tell me. Does what you did make any common sense to you at all? Apologizing in the middle of a fight? Shit, if you really wanted to say sorry that much you could have at least apologized _after_ you eliminated the threat."

"I guess it doesn't make sense," Kyle admitted.

"Kyle I know it's not pretty but sometimes violence is a necessary part of life," Foss told him. "I know, it sucks, and I can understand your unwillingness to kill, but you are going to have to use violence and fight back every now and then. If you were ordinary person then maybe not, but because of what you are, certain people are always going to try to mess with your life. You have to accept that. Even with Latnok out of the picture your life can never be truly normal."

Kyle stayed silent as he contemplated everything that Foss had told him. As much as he didn't want to accept it, as much as he wanted to be normal, he realized it was impossible. Jessi had told him a few months back that they were out of ordinary whether he liked it or not. Unfortunately she and Foss were right. And he had to live with the possibility of constantly being harassed by people like Madacorp and Latnok for the rest of his life. He remembered telling Jessi that he yearned for his life to go back to some kind of constant. Now he understood that this _was_ his constant. Now it was Cassidy but next year it would probably just be somebody else.

Jessi could sense what he was thinking. She didn't want to live that kind of life either but she knew that they had to get used to it. "It won't be that bad," she said trying to console him. "We'll always each other and Declan and Foss with us. Well at least until he retires."

"And even after I retire I'll still find ways to help you out," Foss said sincerely. "No matter what happens we'll deal with it together. But in the mean time you better desensitize yourself to fighting. Because your life _will _be full of it."

There was an uncomfortable silence as Kyle decided in his mind that he was done being so excessively non violent. He would only use violence when necessary, but when it was necessary he wouldn't show any restraint. He still wouldn't have to kill anyone but he couldn't afford to be hesitant about beating them up if needed. He had to adopt this mentality if he was meant to survive. He nodded to them and said "I understand."

He then looked around for Emily for her input.

"Where's Emily?" he asked.

Jessi pointed to the T.V. In the last two weeks that Kyle was healing Emily had brought a lot of creature comforts into the warehouse, including the T.V., so there would actually be stuff to do there instead of just training Kyle and Jessi. They all saw Emily with her eyes glued to the T.V. screen. They all went up to her to see what she was watching so intently. It was a news report.

"…a daring break in at the Mada corporation headquarters building. Now here's the interesting part. It seems that the burglars had help from the inside…" A photo of Emily appeared. "…Emily Hollander, the former CEO of Madacorp was seen on camera leading the burglars, who were both wearing masks, to the top floor to…"

Everyone stared at Emily. She was focusing very intently on the TV with a blank expression. She was very good at hiding what she was feeling but Kyle and Jessi knew because her heart was beating very fast.

"Her family had this to say…"

"I can't believe this is happening," Emily's mother said to the reporters while holding Paige. "This seems so unlike her I don't know why my daughter would do such a terrible thing…"

Emily turned the T.V. off and just stared at the blank screen for several seconds without saying anything. She was a strong woman and would never show any sign of weakness around the others but it was quite obvious to everyone, not just Jessi and Kyle, what she was feeling at the moment. Everyone around her felt bad for her but no one dared to interrupt the silence. Finally Emily spoke.

"Well I guess I'll hide out here at the warehouse until we're ready to go down to Phoenix…" she said slowly.

She looked at everyone else and sighed sadly. "You all should go home and get some sleep. It's been a really long night."

"Emily I'm…"

"Yeah I know Jessi. Goodnight."

The three teenagers slowly left the warehouse. Foss stayed behind.

"I wonder what Paige thinks about me," Emily told him. "I'll never be able to go back to her. She'll grow up thinking I'm a criminal. When everything I did was for her, so she could live in a better world."

"You _will_ be able to go back to her," Foss reassured her. "We'll find a way to clear your name, don't worry."

Emily shook her head and said, "Tom, they saw me on camera. How the hell am I going to explain that?"

"After we take down Latnok we'll expose what Madacorp was planning to do with them," Foss said confidently.

"It doesn't matter. I'll still go to jail for assaulting a cop and a security guard and a bunch of other crimes committed last night and when we take down the Latnok facility." She took a deep breath. "After all this is over I'll just have to turn myself in."

"What? Emily you can't!" Foss gasped.

"It's the only way I can go back to my daughter, however long that may take. Otherwise I'll have to spend the rest of my life hiding. And my daughter already had one parent run out on her. It won't happen again."

"Emily," Foss said gently holding her for the first time. "Don't worry. Kyle and Jessi will figure something out." He looked at her in the eyes and said solemnly, "I promise you. It's going to be okay."

Meanwhile Declan, Kyle, and Jessi were sitting in Declan's car outside the warehouse. "Poor Emily," Declan said. "Imagine never being able to show your face again."

"We have to help her," Jessi said. "We have to somehow prove that Madacorp was up to no good and make it look like Emily was trying to expose the truth."

Kyle agreed with her. "You're right. She's given up so much just to help us. We owe her that."

"So we are like two days away from kicking Cassidy's ass. What do you guys think about that?" Declan asked excitedly.

"I can't wait to get my hand around that fucking bastard's throat," Jessi growled.

"Um…okay then," Declan said nervously. He still didn't know what exactly Cassidy did to make Jessi so mad and it was a little surprising to hear her use profanity like that. "What about you Kyle?"

"I think we might have even less than two days," Kyle replied. "Madacorp didn't show it to the media but there's no doubt that they caught us on camera using our abilities. Jessi and I might have been wearing masks but Brian Taylor would have easily figured out who we were and he must have told Cassidy by now that we're onto him."

"So he's gonna move?" Declan asked worried that all that effort had been for nothing.

"He's going to try. But it will take time," Kyle reasoned. "He spent all these weeks getting that building ready, to just move all those pods and the fluid and the other equipment to another location is not going to happen overnight. We might just catch him. But we need to hurry. Tomorrow morning we have to meet up at the warehouse as early as possible. How does 6AM sound?"

"Uh yeah that sounds good I guess. But you want to head down to Phoenix tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow afternoon at the latest but preferably sooner," Kyle answered. "Remember we still have to analyze those building plans so we know where everything is inside. Declan you should just head home and get some sleep. Jessi and I don't need it as much as the rest of you. We'll spend the night at the warehouse looking over the data and brief the rest of you on it tomorrow. If you're okay with that," he said to Jessi.

"Of course I am," she said. "Sleeping's a big waste of time anyway."

"If you say so," Declan replied with a yawn. Kyle and Jessi got out of the car and Declan drove off. Kyle and Jessi stood there for a few seconds watching him.

"Well should we go in?" Jessi asked him wondering why he was just standing there. A few weeks ago she would have just read his mind to see what he was thinking about but ever since the incident in Hillary's house she learned to respect his privacy.

"Jessi, I need to ask you something," he said slowly.

"What?"

"Jessi what you said in the car earlier…"

"About that fucking murdering asshole who killed my mother?" she spat with rage. Unlike his parents Kyle didn't really mind if Jessi cursed like that because he was so used to everyone else. However he noticed the hate in her voice when she said it and worried. Jessi sensed what he was feeling. "Don't worry," she told him rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to kill him. You can thank your ex for that."

"Then what are you going to do?" he asked confused.

Jessi looked into his eyes with a thin cold smile. "I'm going to prove to everyone that he's a murderer," she told him confidently. "No one will ever be able to doubt it when I'm done. He'll spend the rest of his life in jail maybe even get executed since the state of Arizona has the death penalty."

"Jessi, how will you do that? There's no evidence besides your memory."

"I found a way," she said smiling that same cold smile. It wasn't a smile of happiness in fact Kyle couldn't sense any emotion from her at all as she said this. That could only mean one thing. Jessi had deliberately blocked him out of her mind for some reason. "I don't want to talk about it though. Let's go back inside and look over that data," Jessi said.

She walked back to the warehouse with Kyle following her wondering what she meant by that and why she blocked him out for that moment. As soon as they walked in the door however he completely forgot about it. Kyle and Jessi froze and stared at the scene in front of them.

Foss and Emily immediately broke apart from what looked like a very intense kiss.

"Jessi!" Emily yelled startled. "What the hell are you guys still doing here?" she asked feeling angry at them for walking in but also embarrassed for being caught.

"Oh…I…we were…just…" Jessi struggled to explain but Kyle took her by the hand and quickly led her out.

The both of them stood outside the warehouse stunned by what they just saw. For a few seconds they didn't say anything, just kept replaying the scene in their heads.

"I don't think they wanted us to see that," Kyle finally said.

"No, they definitely didn't." Jessi agreed with him. "I had no idea. Did you?"

"No. I thought Foss hated Emily," Kyle said completely confused about how this change could happen in just a few weeks.

"Well they've gotten a lot closer since then. They haven't really shown it during the meetings but I think Declan knew. He told me that they're always smiling and talking to each other while Foss has him running laps or doing something else he doesn't really need to supervise. But I thought that they were only becoming friends."

"Well I don't really care about it. It was just unexpected." Kyle said. The two teenagers stayed silent for sometime. Jessi noticed that Kyle was just staring at the sky.

"What are you looking at?" she asked curious.

He smiled as he thought back to the first days of his life outside the pod. "Did you know that when the Tragers first adopted me, before I even knew what I was, Josh thought I was an alien because of all the stuff that I could do? He even told me that my family would come from the sky and take me back to my home planet. So I spent a whole night just looking up at the sky and waiting."

"You did? You actually believed Josh?" she asked him quite amused that Kyle would actually think he was an alien.

"Yes. Wouldn't you if you didn't have any memories of who you were or where you came from but you could do all these things that regular people can't?" he replied.

"I suppose. I was only in that situation briefly. Before Emily found me and I got a bunch of fake memories downloaded into my brain. Luckily I didn't learn how to do everything from the ground up like you did."

She didn't feel lucky at all and Kyle knew it. She was just trying to be optimistic. Kyle wondered if Jessi's personality was the way it was because of everything that happened to her in her first days out of the pod. Brian Taylor believed she was like that because of her mother but Kyle didn't want to accept that. Compared to Jessi, his first few days out of the pod were much nicer. He wondered, if Madacorp had snatched him up and gave him fake memories of his life instead of the Tragers taking him in, would he be just like Jessi?

"There's so many of them," Jessi said looking up in amazement. "The stars I mean."

"You know you can't really see them all in the city," Kyle told her. "There's too much light. You'll have to go out in the middle of nowhere."

"I can see them all," she said. "Just filter out all other wavelengths except the ultraviolet light."

Kyle did what she said. "Wow Jessi that's incredible. I never even thought of that."

"That's because I'm smarter than you," she told him playfully

"And stronger and faster," he said playing along.

"Kyle, you know that there's a possibility that one of us might not come back from Phoenix?" Jessi asked him casually.

"Jessi I don't want to think like that."

"Still it is possible. Imagine this was the last night we could spend time together. What would you do?"

"Jessi it's not going to be our last night," Kyle said sternly. "I don't think that's a good mentality to have."

"But suppose you could predict the future. And you knew that one of us was going to die no matter what. How would you spend our last night together?" she asked him smiling.

"Jessi, what are you saying?" Kyle asked immediately worrying. Did she know something that the others didn't?

Jessi sighed impatiently. "Kyle I'm just being hypothetical. I want to enjoy tonight like it's our last night together so we can really enjoy it."

"Oh," Kyle said understanding then slowly smiling. "Well maybe we should go someplace else then. But what about…"

"Kyle we have six hours before you told Declan to show up tomorrow. At our speed we'll have memorized it before any of them are even awake. Anyway I know just the place to go. Follow me," she said before running off.

"Jessi wait," Kyle said. He looked back at the warehouse reluctantly.

"Come on!" Jessi yelled from across the street.

_Well why the hell not?_ Kyle thought before running after Jessi.

Meanwhile in Phoenix, Cassidy was fast asleep when his phone rang. He wondered who would call him so late and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Cassidy. It's Taylor."

"Ah yes Mr. Taylor. Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah something's wrong alright. Emily Hollander helped two masked accomplices break into my office a few hours ago. They were all caught on camera."

"Well I'm terribly sorry but why are you telling me? Isn't this a police matter?" Cassidy asked confused.

"I'm afraid it concerns you as well," Taylor replied. "We didn't actually show this footage to the police or the media but those two masked accomplices were clearly seen on camera…jumping up to a window on the third floor and later jumping over a twenty foot wall."

"Kyle and Jessi," Cassidy said immediately. He was wide awake now.

"No shit. Emily Hollander must have told them about our deal."

Cassidy thought for a few seconds before asking, "Does Miss Hollander actually know that you're allowing us to use one of your buildings as our facility?"

"No…no I don't think she does," Taylor said.

"And you didn't store that bit of information in your office did you? Like on your computer maybe?"

"No. Not even on my computer." Taylor told him. "The only record of that is in our heads. Not even the other senior board members know which building you're in."

"Well then we have nothing to worry about, do we mate? Kyle and Jessi might know that your company is planning to buy clones from me but they have no idea which building I'm in. Relax Mr. Taylor everything is going according to plan."

Back in Seattle…

"Well here we are," Jessi said. She had led them back to Sarah's old apartment which Cassidy had been paying rent for till very recently. "It still covers the rest of this month," she told him.

Kyle looked at Jessi in wonderment. "What?" she asked him.

"I just can't believe it took me so long to realize how beautiful you are," he told her.

Jessi blushed. "I've wanted you to say that for such a long time. I've had a crush on you ever since you went out of your way to help me when I ran away." Jessi's heart was beating very fast as was Kyle's.

He leaned forward and kissed his girlfriend, gently at first, then again more forcefully. Each time they kissed it was longer and more aggressive. Jessi suddenly pulled back.

"Wait," she said. "Don't you think we should turn off everything electrical?"

"You're right I forgot about that," Kyle said. Until they learned how to control this mysterious voltage spike that occurred whenever they got intimate they always risked frying any nearby electrical circuits.

They turned off the light and their cellphones and resumed their passionate kissing. Kyle felt a little bold. He remembered what Lori told him a few months ago to try with Amanda. Slowly and cautiously he lowered one of his hands he had on her back down to her butt. Jessi laughed in her mind at how cautious Kyle was and pushed him onto the bed and got on top of him. She didn't even think and just let her emotions take control. After a few minutes of intense making out, Jessi decided to take it a step further. She began unbuttoning his shirt and kissing down from his neck to his chest. She then came back up and kissed him on the mouth again before looking into his eyes and asking, "What's wrong?"

Kyle really, really didn't want to stop now but he had to ask, "Jessi, exactly how far are we going with this?"

Jessi blushed again. "I'm sorry…I thought you wanted…"

"I do!" Kyle reassured her. "But remember that uh… that 'thing' that Steven and Nicole told us we needed just to be safe?"

"Oh that. Don't worry I bought some. You can buy them at any supermarket," Jessi told him while taking her shirt off.

"So you were planning for this all along," Kyle said smiling. "But you know, we did promise Steven and Nicole that we wouldn't do this till we moved out," he reminded her.

"Kyle, this could be the last time we ever have the chance to do this!" Jessi said impatiently.

Kyle reluctantly agreed. He would really hate himself if Jessi died on the mission without before they ever got the chance to do this. "Yeah I know," he said. "But you can't tell anyone about this not even Lori."

After a few more minutes of kissing and fondling they both slipped out of their pants.

"Jessi, why does everything you wear always have to be black?" Kyle asked out of curiosity just before Jessi unhooked her bra.

"I don't know. I guess I just like the color." She then remembered something. "Have you ever seen that movie '10 things I hate about you'?"

"No. Why?"

"Never mind then…"

**Vacation sucked. I came home a week early. Yeah the pod kids definitely had sex. I'm not gonna get into detail with it because this is rated T and more importantly I would really, really, suck at writing that when I can't even write romance. I'm doing some foreshadowing in this chapter. Jessi's hiding something from Kyle. Don't worry it's not an STD or anything…it has to do with how she's going to get revenge on Cassidy.**


	26. Chapter 26

**I added an ending to Chapter 25 so check that out if you haven't already. In this chapter Jessi and Kyle talk about the night before, Foss catches Declan smoking, and someone comes to visit the Tragers.**

Jessi was the first to wake up. She slowly opened her eyes and took in everything around her. She rolled over on her side and saw Kyle sleeping next to her. She immediately sat up remembering everything that happened the night before. They had completely forgotten about analyzing the data and instead fell asleep in each other's arms. She gently shook Kyle awake. "Kyle wake up we have to get back to the warehouse."

Kyle sleepily opened his eyes. A second later he also quickly sat up with his eyes wide open. "I can't believe we fell asleep," he said.

He looked at Jessi. "Wow," he said in awe.

"What?" she asked.

"I didn't think it was possible but you look even more stunning now in the light," he said.

Jessi blushed. "It's not the first time you've seen me naked," she reminded him. "You saw me in the shower."

"You're right. By the way you wouldn't believe the dreams I had after that day." Kyle said remembering. "It was so confusing because I was still attracted to Amanda but I was developing feelings for you at the same time. Although I wouldn't realize those feelings till I saw you at the Latnok party."

"You know that day when I let you see me in the shower, I didn't think there was anything sexual about it," Jessi said casually. "You and I are so similar I didn't think there was anything wrong with you seeing me naked."

"I was like that too," Kyle confessed. "When I first moved in with the Tragers I didn't think there was anything wrong with nudity. I remember exposing myself to Lori. She told me I wasn't modest. Or Jewish. I didn't understand at the time."

"She meant…" Jessi started to explain but Kyle stopped her.

"Yeah, I get it now." He leaned towards her and kissed her.

_Kyle as much as I'd like to stay here and do this we really have to get back to the warehouse_ she reminded him telepathically while kissing him back.

Kyle reluctantly stopped. "Yes you're right. We still have all that data to look over. We'll have plenty of time to do this when we come back," he said with a grin. Jessi didn't say anything. They both went into the shower together.

"Jessi, I'm sorry if it wasn't everything you thought it would be," Kyle said to her.

"Why do you say that?" Jessi asked.

"It's just…I heard that the first time always hurts. And there was blood..."

"Don't worry about it." Jessi reassured him. "Actually I think it felt a lot better with you than it would have with anyone else. I'm pretty sure no one else feels that electric charge we felt when we were…you know," Kyle was glad she wasn't so blunt and straightforward anymore.

"So I guess we really are the perfect match," Kyle said smiling. "And I heard it'll only get better."

Jessi didn't respond. Instead she looked away with a blank expression. "What's the matter?" Kyle asked her.

"Nothing," she said before changing her expression to a smile. Kyle loved her smile. "I'm just glad we finally got to do this before we went after Cassidy." She kissed him and stepped out of the shower leaving Kyle confused about what she was thinking.

Declan arrived at the warehouse at exactly 6AM like he told Kyle. He walked inside and saw no one there. "Kyle? Jessi?" he called them but no one answered. He walked further into the warehouse and looked around. He saw Emily sleeping on the couch but she seemed to be alone. No one else was inside but him. _Where the hell are they? _Declan wondered.

He saw a pack of Emily's cigarettes and a lighter on the table right next to the couch. Declan didn't smoke once in his life especially since he was an aspiring athlete. However he knew he could very well die tonight or tomorrow night depending on when they attacked the Latnok building. Feeling very brave he pulled out one of her cigarettes and picked up the lighter. "Why thank you Emily," he said and headed outside the warehouse.

He walked outside and lit the cigarette and tried to inhale the smoke like he saw others doing. Immediately he started coughing. He looked up and saw Foss standing right next to him. "Whoa dude! Where the hell did you come from?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Foss demanded as he slapped the cigarette out of Declan's hands and stepped on it. "Since when do you smoke?"

"Hey relax. I just thought since there's a chance I might die tonight I might as well try it," Declan said rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean die tonight?" Foss asked.

"Didn't Kyle tell you? He wants to head down this afternoon if we can."

"What? We haven't even gone over all the data he stole."

"But I thought Kyle and Jessi did that last night." Declan said confused. "They told me to go home and that they would just stay here and look over that stuff all night since they don't really sleep that much."

Foss remembered what happened. "Oh yeah. I guess they were going to but then…" he paused, "they didn't call you up and tell you anything after you left did they?"

"No. Like what?"

Foss didn't answer. "I'll just give them a call," he said. "Oh and by the way if I ever catch you smoking again I'm kicking the shit out of you."

Declan make a coughing noise that sounded an awful lot like 'fuck you'. Foss glared at him. "What?" he said innocently. "I got a cough from smoking, god damn."

Foss tried calling them but it went straight to their voice mailbox without ringing. "Damn it they're not picking up," he said angrily. "The phone's not ringing either so they must have turned them off.

"Hey, you don't think that they just left without us did you?" Declan said worried. "I mean I could totally picture Kyle doing some dumb shit like that because he didn't want us to get hurt."

"I can imagine him leaving you behind," Foss admitted, "but not me. He and Jessi both know that they need my help."

They both went inside. Emily slowly woke up. "Hey Tom," she said to Foss. She looked over at Declan. "What's up kid? You're here pretty early."

"Kyle told me to come here at this time. He said that he and Jessi would stay up all night memorizing that shit you guys stole from Madacorp. You didn't see them last night did you?"

"We saw them alright," Emily said remembering how they walked in on her and Foss kissing. "But then they left without saying where." She then looked serious. "So they didn't call you up and tell you anything after you left them here?" she asked repeating Foss's question earlier.

"No, and that's the second time I was asked that question. Why are both of you so worried about…oh no…" a look of horror came on his face, "oh god, they walked in on you both doing it didn't they?"

Emily rolled her eyes while Foss smacked his head at Declan's stupidity. Declan continued to ramble on. "Yeah I don't blame them I would have run my ass further than Kyle did that day. Poor Kyle and Jessi are probably lying in a pool of their own blood sixty miles from here all because they saw you both…"

Foss grabbed Declan by the collar and threw him out of the warehouse. "There's a list of all the things we'll need in the passenger seat of my van. Start packing," he ordered.

Declan got up and walked towards the van muttering a string of curse words. As he got to the van he saw Kyle and Jessi come jogging towards him.

"Where the hell were you two?" he asked feeling annoyed that they told him to show up early when they themselves weren't present leaving him to deal with a grouchy Foss alone.

"We were at Jessi's apartment. We just had to collect some things." Kyle answered.

"Well why'd you have to turn your cellphones off? Go inside, Foss is looking for you. He's in a really bad mood. He threw me out just for making a joke."

Kyle and Jessi looked at each other and took a deep breath and walked inside the warehouse.

"There you are." Foss said to them relieved. "Look you can't turn your cellphone off like that. What if I had to reach you in an emergency?"

"We're sorry," Jessi said. "It won't happen again."

"It better not. So did you two come back later in the night and memorize the layout of that building?"

"No. We fell asleep. We'll do it now." Kyle told him.

"Okay then," Foss nodded. "Declan and I will pack everything we need in the meantime. In case you guys didn't eat I got some food over there on the table. Alright, let's get to it."

While Kyle and Jessi sat down at the computer and started memorizing the layout of the Latnok building so they knew where all the staircases, elevators, and large rooms were, Foss, Emily, and Declan packed all the supplies they needed. In less than thirty minutes Kyle and Jessi completely memorized everything and helped the others pack.

"Foss, that's a lot of bullets," Kyle said worried.

"Don't worry they're only rubber," Foss told him. "I'd still prefer using regular bullets. These will stun them but they won't keep them down for long."

"Yeah well the bottom of my shoe will," Jessi said smirking. Declan laughed while Kyle shook his head.

"So where in the building do you think the pods might be?" Foss asked Kyle.

"There are several large rooms located on the underground floors of the building," Kyle said. "I think these would be the best place to for someone to put the tanks without anyone who doesn't work there seeing them. The building goes about five floors below the ground."

"Well that's a pretty big building. It's probably chock full of security guards. We can't afford to get lost in there otherwise they'll trap us and overwhelm us with superior numbers. I just hope Omega Six isn't going to be involved in this."

"What's Omega Six?" Jessi asked.

"Omega Six is the name of Latnok's personal body guards," Foss explained. "They're a highly trained security force that should not be taken lightly at all. Every member of Omega Six has served in his country's special forces and has seen a lot of combat. These guys are from all over. I met guys who served in the Delta Force, S.A.S, Spetsnaz, and many other special forces from around the world."

"Were you part of Omega Six?" Kyle asked.

Foss chuckled as began remembering his old life. "I've been a part of them for the past seventeen years of my life," he said. "For most of that time my assignment was to watch over you while you grew up in Zyzzyx. I also served as Baylin's bodyguard."

"But why would you work for Latnok?" Jessi asked not understanding why anyone would join such a devious, unethical organization.

"This was back when they were the good guys," Foss explained. "I had just gotten out of the military and my old buddy Adam Baylin who I hadn't seen in years visited me out of the blue and offered me the job personally."

"You knew Adam? Did you also know Sarah?" Jessi asked excitedly. But much to her disappointment Foss shook his head.

"No, Adam and Brian met her when they were in college. I wasn't there."

"So you knew my father then?" Jessi asked much less enthusiastically. She didn't really hate him the way she initially hated Emily but she didn't care for him that much either. He never really loved her like a daughter and instead used her for his own purposes. Still, he trained her and made her as powerful as Kyle in a much shorter time and she could be somewhat grateful for that.

"Oh yeah. We go way back. When Adam learned that Brian had betrayed us he was devastated."

"What about my mother? Grace Kingsley. Did you know her?" Kyle asked Foss.

Foss stayed silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "Yeah. I knew her. She can be one real mean bitch. And I bet you anything that she's the real brains behind Cassidy."

By noon they had all finished packing everything they needed. "Finally," Emily said exhausted. "We should all take a lunch break. And I really need a shower and a change of clothes."

"You can shower at our house and I'll give you some of my clothes," Jessi offered.

Foss and Declan drove back to their respective homes while Kyle drove Jessi and Emily to the Trager house in Emily's car. Emily had to keep her head down in the back seat the whole time because she was paranoid that someone would recognize her. When they arrived at the Trager house Jessi saw a very familiar Mercedes Benz parked outside. She looked at the license plate. "Emily, stay down," she told her sister. "That's Brian's car."

She looked at Kyle questioningly. "Should we go in?" she asked.

Kyle nodded. "Even though he knows it was us he still can't prove it. And I don't think he knows that we know where he's hiding Cassidy."

They both parked the car far away from the house. "Stay here," Jessi told Emily. "We'll come get you when he leaves." Emily nodded nervously. She really didn't want to go to jail. Kyle and Jessi walked to their house. They both took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Steven opened the door and saw his two adopted kids and stared at them incredulously. "What the hell is the matter with you two? Is this some rebellious phase that you're going through or something because this whole month the two of you have caused more trouble than Josh and Lori and that's saying something. I thought you two were supposed to be the good kids! You have any idea how much we were worried? You stay out all night without even calling and when we tried to reach you your cellphones were turned off!"

"We didn't have sex," Jessi blurted out.

Kyle closed his eyes in disbelief. _Great that was just what we needed. Thanks a lot Jessi_ he thought sarcastically.

"WHAT?" Steven yelled loudly.

"Well I mean that's why you were worried right? Well don't worry we didn't."

Steven glared at Kyle. _Yeah he knows _Kyle thought. _This is going to be bad. _

"We'll talk about this later," he growled quietly. "But I wasn't even thinking about _that,_" he said to Jessi. "I was talking about what the two of you did at Madacorp last night! It's all over the news for Christ sakes and by the way we have a visitor who wants to see you." He led them to the living room where Nicole was sitting with Brian Taylor.

"Hello Jessi," he said greeting his daughter without smiling. He was pretty angry. "So you think you can just abuse your abilities and break laws like that? You broke into a corporate office and assaulted police officers. If it were anybody else they would go to jail for years!"

"You're lecturing us about breaking laws? What about your deal with Latnok?" Jessi shot back.

"Look Jessi, why don't you and Kyle just mind your own business and live your lives in peace? I have no more reason to bother you and neither does Latnok so just leave us alone."

"We can't do that." Kyle said. "You kept Jessi in a tank for sixteen years and then when she finally escaped you almost trained her to death just to prove that creating her wasn't a mistake. We can't let you do that to others like us."

Taylor was beginning to lose his temper. "Look asshole. It doesn't concern you. Why care so much about things that don't affect you? Just so you know everything that we do will eventually turn out to be for the greater good of the world. Don't you see that this is your chance to live your life like an ordinary person just like you've always wanted? This is your chance for freedom. No one will ever bother the two of you again."

"Unfortunately Taylor we're not ordinary people and it's all thanks to your company and Latnok. We're not going to let that happen to anyone else. The world is not ready for experiments like that because of people like you and Cassidy." Kyle said defiantly.

"Kyle I swear if you and Jessi pull something like this again your family will regret it. Madacorp has billions of dollars at our disposal. We can make things very, very, difficult for you all if that's what you want. Remember how we got your father fired? Don't fuck with us," he warned them. With that he got up and stormed out of the house leaving the two teens and their parents speechless.

**Next chapter they say their goodbyes and everything and then head on down to AZ for the final battle with Cassidy and Grace. Now Foss was saying "I hope we don't have to deal with Latnok's badass bodyguards" obviously that means they will otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned them. Jessi is continuing to act mysterious around Kyle she's up to something. Abby your english is perfect don't worry about it. Thanks for the constant reviews Kessi38. CptLatnok real sorry for the cliffhanger I literally had to go that minute. By the way guys how many words do you think each chapter should have? I noticed that for most fics it was like 2500. I try to get at least 3000 that's like 7 pages on Microsoft Word.  
**


	27. Chapter 27

**This chapter they say their goodbyes and leave. **

"Wow what a jerk," Josh said as he and Lori came down the stairs. The loud commotion had woken them up. "Who was that?" he asked.

"That was my father," Jessi told him. "He found out that Kyle and I broke into Madacorp."

"Well this is just awesome," Lori said sarcastically. "He said he would take it out on this family if Kyle and Jessi keep interfering. What are we going to do now?"

Kyle didn't know what to say. His family was his Achilles heel and Taylor knew it. He would never forgive himself if any harm came to them because of something he did. "There's nothing we can do," he said defeated. Jessi and Steven looked at him stunned that he would just give up like that.

"What do you mean there's nothing you can do? I think it's quite obvious what you need to do. You and Jessi need to continue tracking down Cassidy and stop this god forsaken cloning thing from ever happening. And if you can try to find someway to prove that that arrogant son of a bitch Taylor was planning to buy from Cassidy and bring him down as well," Steven said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Now it was Kyle's turn to look stunned along with Nicole and Lori. "But Steven you heard what he said…" Nicole protested. "This family…"

"Yeah I heard what he said. But I think this is all the more reason why Kyle and Jessi can't ever let someone like him get their hands on those clones." He turned to Kyle. "There's no question that Madacorp can make things hard on all of us. Last time Madacorp got me fired from my old company just so they could later hire me. Many of my old friends are still unemployed because of what they did. The real question is what someone like Taylor could do if he had control over someone like you two. That's when he could do some real damage."

"And I'm pretty sure Brian's the most decent out of all of Cassidy's customers," Jessi added thinking of the deceased Han Chung.

"Steven, are you saying you would jeopardize the welfare of your own family…"

"Of course I'm not saying that!" Steven snapped wondering why his wife would even think that. "I'm doing this for the family! Nicole I expected you to understand that."

"Why can't we all just let the police handle this?" Lori asked.

"Because Lori, we can't prove anything against them. We've already been over this," Jessi answered her impatiently.

"You're telling me in all this time you haven't found out any information which you could give to the police?" Lori asked incredulously.

"Actually we did find out where Cassidy is hiding," Kyle said. "Maybe Lori's right. Maybe we should just tell the police what we know and they'll take it from here."

"And you think the cops are just going to believe you?" Josh asked skeptically. "If I was a cop and someone called me up and told me that someone was planning to illegally clone them I would think they were high on crack."

"They'll take me seriously if I show them what I am and what I'm capable of," Kyle said. The whole family stared at him shocked that he was willing to go that far. "Yes. That's the only way. I'll have to expose myself for what I really am in order to convince them that I'm not crazy. Jessi can still pretend to be normal."

"Kyle you can't just expose what you are," Nicole said adamantly. "If anything it'll just encourage other people to try the same experiment since your existence is proof that it is possible."

"That's right," Kyle said. "I didn't think about that."

"Look, Kyle, instead of doing that, why not just take Taylor out of the picture?" Josh suggested. "Just have Tom Foss go to his place one dark night and…"

"We're not going to kill him," Jessi said rolling her eyes. "He might be a jerk but he's still my father."

"So what the hell do we do then?" Josh asked.

"There's only one thing we can do. You two have to go after Cassidy and hopefully find something we can use against Taylor. And if you can't we'll just have to see what he does." Steven said solemnly. It was a fate that no one else in the family wanted to accept but couldn't think of anything else.

"If he does anything to harm this family I'll make sure to pay him a visit that will make him regret he ever created me," Jessi swore. But then she remembered she wouldn't be able to do that if her secret plan for Cassidy worked…

"Are you sure you guys are okay with us doing this?" Kyle asked doubtfully.

"Well we don't really have another choice, do we?" Lori said sadly. "I mean imagine living in a world in which these evil superhuman clones just sneak up behind regular people in a dark alleyway, and knock them out, and rob them whenever they feel like it." She gave Jessi a look. Jessi uncomfortably looked away.

"Well now that you know where Cassidy is when should we go after him?" Steven asked. Kyle took note of the 'we'. Steven clearly wanted to be a part of this just like when he helped Kyle bring down Madacorp but Kyle couldn't let him. This time it would be much more dangerous. He couldn't let anything happen to his father.

"Soon," he said instead of saying 'Today'. Jessi must have either read his mind or thought the same thing because she didn't say anything.

Everyone was silent for sometime thinking about what exactly Madacorp could do that would make their lives miserable. Steven was worried that Taylor might pull some strings to get him fired from UW. Lori was worried that he might do the same to ensure she doesn't get into any of the good colleges. Jessi was wondering how exactly she could ensure that Taylor wouldn't do anything if she wasn't going to be there.

"Emily." Kyle said suddenly. Everyone looked at him. "Emily's in the car. She can't go back to her house since the police are on the lookout for her. Is it okay if she showers and eats over here?"

"Uh…yeah…I guess," Nicole said reluctantly. "Just be careful that no one outside sees her. Especially Carol Bloom. That's the last thing we need right now."

Kyle and Jessi went outside to get her. "Kyle, if my father tries anything with the Tragers, I need you to promise me you'll go after him and make him stop," Jessi said to Kyle.

"How will I do that?" Kyle asked puzzled.

"I don't know. Maybe rough him up a little. Break some bones. Dangle him by his ankles from the roof of the Madacorp building. You know, just scare him," she said nonchalantly.

Kyle looked at her like she was crazy. "Jessi, I really doubt all that will be necessary. And why are you talking like you won't be there?"

"You know. Incase something happens to me." Jessi replied.

Kyle stopped walking. "Jessi nothing is going to happen to you. We are all going to come out of this alive. Please stop talking like that. It's not good to think like that."

Jessi looked down and nodded. "Okay," she said.

They got to the car where Emily was patiently waiting for them. "Is he gone?" she anxiously asked.

"Yeah he's gone. Just put your coat over your head and run inside. You're lucky it's raining so no one will think it's unusual." Jessi told her. Emily did as she told and they went back into the house.

"Nicole, Steven, thank you so much for letting me…" Emily began but Nicole didn't want to hear it.

"Don't mention it," she said coldly. She remembered how Emily tried to make it look like she was having an affair with Steven to destabilize the family. "Bathroom's upstairs. You do have a change of clothes don't you?" she asked in a tone implying 'there's no way in hell I'm giving you mine'.

"Yeah I'm letting her use some of mine," Jessi told her. She went to her room to get some clothes.

"Kyle can I talk to you alone for a minute," Steven said. He started walking to Kyle's room and Kyle reluctantly followed him. _Thanks a bunch Jessi. On top of everything I now have to deal with this _he thought.

Steven closed the door and locked it. He turned to Kyle and looked at him in the eye. It was a look that Kyle was too ashamed to return. "So why'd you do it?" he asked.

"It just sort of happened," Kyle tried to explain. "Jessi and I were talking and then one thing led to another."

"So the fact that you both gave us your word didn't mean anything?" Steven asked angrily.

"Jessi was saying how it could be our last night together. I didn't want to tell you this but we're planning on going after Cassidy today after lunch," Kyle confessed.

"You're leaving today? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Steven asked feeling a little hurt his son wouldn't include him in this mission. "And what do you mean it could be yours and Jessi's last night together?"

"You can guess the answer to both those questions," Kyle simply said.

Steven just looked at his son not wanting to believe what he was implying. Kyle nodded and said, "This is not going to be as simple as when we brought down Madacorp. Foss actually packed bulletproof vests for all of us."

Steven looked down and ran his hands through his hair. "And is Foss going to be doing any killing?" he asked.

"No," Kyle assured him. "But there's a big chance that one of us can be killed."

"Shit," Steven cursed. "I can't let you do this. You and Jessi have done your part in finding Cassidy. Foss and Emily can take care of the rest by themselves."

"No!" Kyle said defiantly. "They'll never come out alive. They need our help."

"So you're saying you don't want me to risk my life but you're willing to risk yours. And you're my son!" Steven shouted. "I'm the one who should be saying that to you!"

"You have to look after our family," Kyle said firmly.

"Damn it Kyle, you're a part of this family too. And so is Jessi," Steven said desperately trying to convince his son not to go.

"Look Steven, I'm sorry we broke our promise, but you can't tell Nicole about it. Please."

Steven sighed. "I wasn't planning to," he admitted. "I guess I was sort of expecting this to happen eventually. And with last night possibly being your last night…"

"It's not going to be our last night," Kyle said. "I promise everyone is going to come back home alive. I'll make sure of it."

"Yeah well you promised that you and Jessi wouldn't sleep together but you broke that promise," Steven said bitterly, "although I can understand why you did it. So this could be the last time we ever see you again?"

"Please don't tell Nicole that either," Kyle urged him. Steven's reaction to all this was exactly why Kyle wasn't planning on telling him or Nicole.

Steven swallowed hard and nodded without saying anything. He was clearly very upset. He opened the door and left the room leaving Kyle in there alone.

_You shouldn't have promised him that we'd all come back _Jessi's voice said in his head.

Kyle couldn't take it anymore. _Okay Jessi just what the hell is your problem? You've been saying stuff like that all last night and today. Why are you thinking so pessimistically? Is there something you know that I don't? _

_Kyle I just think you all should be prepared for the worst that's all _Jessi replied.

_Is that what you think? You really think it would hurt Steven or Nicole, or Josh, or Lori less if they were expecting us to die? Because that kind of thinking is just stupid. Usually the ones who think they are going to die are the ones who end up dead because they accept their fate instead of fighting it. _ _Just enough already. You're really starting to piss me off._

He didn't hear a response from Jessi. He wondered what the hell was wrong with her, why she was thinking so negatively.

Elsewhere in the house…

"I have something for you."

"Uh…what?" Josh asked with his thoughts interrupted.

"I have something for you." Jessi repeated.

"Yeah? It better be a new car," he joked as he followed her to her room.

"It's not a new car," she said. "Not yet anyway."

Josh wondered what she meant by that as he went inside her room. Jessi showed him the 20 grand she won at the casino. Josh was dumbstruck. He was too stunned for words. Instead he just stared open mouthed at the money wondering how the hell she got so much.

"I won it at a casino," she told him with a wide smile. "It's $20,000. I was actually planning on buying you the car but there's no more time." If Josh's mind hadn't been so fixated on the stacks of money Jessi was holding he might have heard that last part but he didn't. Instead he hugged Jessi tightly.

"T…T…This is…the most…awesome thing anyone's ever done for me…" he managed to sputter. "20 grand…Jessi…" a slow grin crept onto his face as he realized the opportunity here. "Jessi, you and I need to go to Las Vegas sometime," he said.

"You should go with Kyle," she suggested. "I don't think I'll be gambling anymore."

"Are you kidding me? Now way the downer dung party police is going to agree to underage gambling!" he said laughing. "We should go this weekend. We'll bring Declan along but that's it no one else even has to know," he said eagerly. Jessi looked down uncomfortably.

"Look Josh, I want to thank you," she said.

"Thank me? You want to thank me?" he asked in disbelief. "For what? You're the one giving me all this money!"

"For tolerating me. I know it's been difficult for you to adjust to me living here especially with me not respecting your privacy…"

"Jessi, why are you telling me this now?" Josh asked a little worried.

"Just incase I…never mind," she said. "Just don't tell anyone else yet. Wait until I'm gone."

Emily came down and they all ate lunch. Steven was feeling miserable that this could be the family's last time he might see Kyle and Jessi again and no one else even knew it.

After they were done eating Josh went straight to Kyle and told him what Jessi gave him. "I know," Kyle said. "She won it almost a month back."

"So why's she giving it to me now?" Josh asked confused.

"Probably because she was planning on buying the car for you but she never had the time to do it with all her community service."

"Okay…well she was acting kind of weird." Josh told him.

"Weird how?" Kyle asked.

"She thanked me for tolerating her. _She_ gives _me_ 20 grand and she thanks me for tolerating her. Isn't that weird?"

Of course Kyle didn't see anything wrong with that. "She's really grateful for that. Having a family means everything to her. What you've given the both of us is worth much more than any amount of money."

"Yeah but the way she talked, it almost seemed like she's expecting to die tomorrow. Look, remember those suicide prevention lectures we had in school? Well one of the warning signs is when the person starts giving away stuff and says weird shit like…like when they thank you for tolerating them." Josh said.

Kyle sighed. "I know why she's acting like that. She thinks she's going to die, for some reason. I don't want you telling anyone this but we're going after Cassidy today."

"Yeah so?" Josh asked.

"I don't want to think like this but there is a chance that we could get killed. That's probably why Jessi was acting like that." Kyle confessed.

Josh gulped. "Killed?" he asked. "Don't you mean beat up and arrested?"

"No. I mean we could get shot and die. Don't worry though. That's not going to happen. And I don't want you telling anybody that."

"You know, Kyle, I hate to say it but maybe Lori had the right idea…"

Kyle wasn't in the mood for this whole conversation again. "Look we'll be fine. The only reason I told you this is to explain why Jessi was acting so weird. I don't know why she insists on thinking like that but it's strange because I'm not sensing any fear or nervousness from her. It's like she thinks she's going to die but she's completely okay with it. In any case you can't tell anyone okay?"

Josh felt a lump in his throat. He swallowed hard and nodded. "Well, uh, I don't know what to say dude. Good luck, I guess. Be careful. You and Jessi watch each other's backs," he paused for a few seconds before bursting out, "and you better fucking come back alive!"

"We will. All of us. Just don't tell anybody else." Just then Kyle remembered. "Oh yeah one more thing."

"Yeah what?"

"I finally joined the club," Kyle told him.

"Yeah? It's about damn time," Josh said smiling. But it didn't ease the tension at all.

Meanwhile in Lori's room…

"You want to thank me for being a good sister to you?" Lori asked surprised and confused.

"Yes. You tried your best to cope with me and gave me advice on how to get Kyle even though it didn't even work…"

"Wait a minute, why are you telling me this now?" Lori asked suspiciously.

"No reason. I always wanted to tell you that. And I know I already said this but I'm sorry for taking that shirt of yours without asking you and…"

"Okay what's really going on? You're up to something. I know it. Fess up." Lori said.

Jessi sighed. "We're going after Cassidy today," she said.

"Um okay so?" Lori asked.

"Lori…I might not come back."

Lori felt weak in her legs. "That's…oh god…not this shit again…"

"Yeah. I thought you should be ready for it."

"Be ready for it?" Lori almost screamed. "And you think that'll help?" Jessi didn't say anything. "Do you really have to go? I mean you can just send Tom Foss can't you? He's trained for this kind of stuff isn't he?"

"He's coming too. He'll need our help."

"Jessi I don't want to lose you…"

"Lori, please. I have to do this. I have to get revenge on Cassidy for killing my mother."

Lori remembered Jessi's outburst at the Rack with Amanda. "So that's what this is all really about," she said understanding.

"He killed my mother and he made it look like she abandoned me. He caused me so much pain."

"So you'd risk your life just to kill him? What about that whole conversation you had with Amanda?"

"Don't worry," Jessi said. "I'm not going to kill him. There is another way I could get revenge on him."

Lori didn't even want to know how. "Look this is ridiculous. You're really smart. Can't you find a way to like, prove that he killed your mom? Instead of going after him vigilante style?"

"Unfortunately Cassidy destroyed all the evidence of the murder. There's no way to prove it. But I have something almost as good."

But Lori wasn't listening to her. "Jessi this is stupid! You're mother wouldn't have wanted you to die doing…whatever you're planning…"

"My mother is dead!" Jessi yelled. "And it's all because of that bastard! He _will _pay for it but only if I go forward with my plan. Otherwise he'll completely get away with it. So I need to do this. Understand?"

Lori nodded with a sad expression on her face.

"Please don't tell anyone," Jessi pleaded. "Especially Kyle. He doesn't want me to tell anyone this."

Lori hugged her sister. "Just promise me you'll come back alive."

"I…I can't," Jessi struggled to say.

"What do you mean you can't?" Lori demanded. "You and Kyle can do…anything!"

"Okay. I promise you that we'll succeed." Jessi said.

"You better," Lori said. She didn't notice that Jessi promised they would succeed instead of come back alive.

Finally Kyle, Jessi, and Emily decided that it was time to leave. Kyle drove them back to the warehouse in Emily's car. Jessi looked back at the Tragers' house like it was the last time she would ever see it.

Meanwhile at the warehouse…

"So where the hell did you get all this stuff?" Declan asked amazed at all the explosives and weapons that Foss had packed.

"Well, all of these bombs, I made myself out of ordinary household chemicals. And these weapons were purchased from an ordinary gun store. The rest of this equipment like these night vision goggles was ordered off the internet."

"Dude…are these really grenades?"

"No. They're only flashbangs. They'll temporarily blind anyone who's looking but they won't kill. Kyle was pretty pissed about Han and made me promise that only non-lethal weapons be used. Hence all the rubber bullets."

"So can I get a gun?" Declan eagerly asked.

"Absolutely not." Foss told him. "You're too immature."

"Why the hell not, Foss? I'm helping you break into a heavily guarded building in which people are going to be shooting at me and you're saying I can't shoot back? So how the hell am I supposed to defend myself then?" Declan asked angrily.

Foss shrugged. "Hide behind something. The rest of us will take care of them."

Declan was pissed. "That's bullshit! I actually want to do something this time. I'm not just waiting in the car again," he said.

"Yeah don't worry we'll find something for you do. I've got a pretty good idea of how we can help you out."

"Yeah how's that?"

"You know the security room? The one with all the screens? Once we take it we're going to leave you in there. You're going to be our eyes. That way we don't have to enter a room not knowing what to expect. And you'll warn us if anyone's heading toward us."

Kyle, Jessi, and Emily arrived at the warehouse a minute later.

"Do we have everything we need?" Kyle asked.

"Yup. We got everything." Foss said.

Foss then gave Kyle a copy of the directions he printed. Emily and Foss sat in Foss's van which had all the stuff they needed loaded into it while Kyle, Jessi, and Declan sat in Declan's car and they began their very long journey across several states to the city of Phoenix.

"You two ever been outside the state of Washington before?"

"No," Kyle and Jessi simultaneously said.

"It's gonna be a change of scenery," Declan told them.

Declan then began complaining to his friends on how Foss was being a total jerk. "And I thought, you know, since I might die on this mission, why not, right? Well he comes out of nowhere and smacks the cigarette out of my hand and tells me if he ever catches me doing it again he'll beat the shit out of me. When he does it all the time. How fucked up is that?"

Jessi looked at him with a serious expression. "You know tobacco smoking can significantly increase your chances of getting multiple kinds of cancer as well as cause heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and emphysema," she said.

Kyle nodded his head and agreed. "Nicotine also causes physical as well as psychological dependence and can eventually become very…"

Declan sighed "Hey guys you want some music?" he asked hoping it would stop them from quoting the whole damn article in the encyclopedia.

"Yes. I bought some nice CDs," Jessi said. She pulled out her Avril Lavigne CD.

"No!" Both Declan and Kyle shouted at the same time.

"Okay fine! What do you both want then?"

"Put 98.1 FM," Kyle suggested. Jessi did. As soon as the music began playing out the speakers Declan looked at Jessi with a look that of utter confusion. She shrugged and her expression said _Don't look at me I don't know why he likes it._

"Kyle, what the fuck is this shit?" Declan asked his friend.

"This is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart playing his fortieth…"

"No, no, no, Kyle we are not listening to classical music for the next ten hours." Declan said turning off the radio.

"Well fine but I don't want to listen to any your rap either." Kyle said. "I think it's the most unintelligent form of music. Especially that song Lolipop."

"I don't get why you guys don't like Avril Lavigne…"

"JESSI NO!" Kyle and Declan both shouted.

Declan sighed. "Okay, how about Linkin Park. We can all agree on that right?"

Jessi nodded. "Sure. That's acceptable."

"Yes. At least they play their own instruments so they have some musical talent," Kyle agreed.

"You know I remember when this album first came out when I was in middle school. I used to listen to it before practice and right before a big game. It really pumps you up." Declan told them.

"Pumps you up?" Jessi asked.

"He means it accelerates your heart rate and gets the adrenaline flowing by causing him to feel several emotions." Kyle explained to her. "Kind of like how when you listen to your Avril Lavigne you feel…whatever it is you feel…"

"You know when we get back we should teach Jessi how to play basketball." Declan said. "She'd have no trouble making all the shots, kind of like you. And she's pretty tall for a girl."

"I don't think height is even relevant when she can jump sixty feet into the air," Kyle pointed out.

Jessi didn't say anything. She sighed and looked out the window.

After a while Kyle fell asleep while Jessi and Declan continued to talk. "Hillary and I watched this really retarded movie called Rest Stop two days ago. Hillary loved it but I didn't. Anyway the reason I'm telling you is that the chick, the lead, she looks just like you. I swear to god she's like your twin only older looking. Her name's Jaimie Alexander. Look her up when we get back. You'll be amazed at how much you both look alike.

"What's the movie about?" Jessi asked.

"Some psycho truck driver terrorizes this chick. Only he's like a ghost truck driver. You know the same horror movie garbage. I hate the genre."

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Jessi told him.

"I know. It's just a movie. A pretty bad one too although that chick Jaime Alexander can act pretty well, She's pretty hot too."

"So I'm hot?" Jessi asked.

"What?"

"You said Jaimie Alexander looks like me. So if she's hot then I must be hot too." Jessi reasoned.

"Uh well, yeah I guess," Declan said awkwardly. He glanced back at Kyle who was sleeping in the back seat. "I mean I used to date you, right?" He wanted to change the topic. "You know speaking of ghosts I remember when we went to that spot in the woods, you know where that guy got killed, I told you there were no such things as ghosts and you told me you could see them. What was that about?"

"Oh that," Jessi sighed remembering the unpleasant memories. "I wasn't seeing ghosts. I was seeing memories of when I escaped from Zyzzyx. And Declan I think we're close enough or me to share this with you, but that man who was killed in that area? I killed him."

Declan felt a chill run through his body and all the hairs on his skin stood up. "Um you did? How come?" He really wished Kyle was awake right now.

"I don't know. He had a knife and then he came at me and…I still don't know why I had to kill him…it was like that time I attacked Lori…I'm so sorry," she said with her eyes really big and her lip quivering.

"He had a knife and he came at you? Well that's self defense right? So you're good." Declan said relieved.

"No, I…I took the knife from him and threw it away. And then I killed him. I don't know why I used to do things like that…"

"Well you're different now, right? I mean you wouldn't kill anyone now, would you? Besides Cassidy I mean. And I can totally understand why you would kill him because I would kill him too if he killed…" Declan rambled nervously talking very fast.

"I'm not going kill Cassidy," she said firmly. "But I want to tell you something else." She looked back at Kyle to make sure he was asleep. "I might not be coming back from this mission. I want to thank you for being a good friend. And for not being so mad when I dumped you."

Declan looked at Jessi astounded. "Jessi, what the fuck is that supposed to mean? Of course you're coming back alive. We all are. If anyone has a chance of dying it's me. I don't have any abilities or combat experience and that asshole's not even letting me carry a gun. But even I'm not thinking like that!"

Jessi didn't say anything.

Declan looked back at Kyle one more time and chuckled. "Man I can't believe he fell asleep so fast. One minute he's talking and literally a few seconds later he's out."

"Kyle and I can fall asleep whenever we want to," Jessi told him.

"So you guys can basically shut yourselves off whenever you feel like it?" Declan asked her.

"I guess you can put it like that. We can sort of…manually slow down our heart rate and relax ourselves. We can also do the opposite to 'pump us'." Jessi explained.

"Pump you up you mean?" Declan asked laughing. "Yeah I wish I could do that."

He looked at the road signs. "Damn I can't believe it. It's been hours and we've just crossed into Oregon. We still have like two more big ass states to cross. You want to take a turn at driving?" he asked Jessi.

"My license was suspended, remember?" she reminded him.

Declan looked back at Kyle and didn't have the heart to wake him up. He groaned. This was going to be a long, long, trip. He looked at Foss's van in front of him. All of a sudden the van veered into another lane narrowly avoiding another car which angrily honked its horn. Declan picked up the radio Foss had given him. "Damn it Foss, pay attention. Now's not the time to be making out with Emily."

"Shut the fuck up or I swear to god I'll ram your car off the road," Foss's voice growled over the radio causing Declan and Jessi to burst out laughing.

**This is my longest chapter so far. I would have submitted it sooner but the Document Manager thing was down and I was bored so I just kept adding more and more and more stuff. Next chapter they take try to take down Cassidy. Nate makes a comeback and so does Grace Kingsley of course. I hope I didn't make it too obvious what Jessi is going to do with Cassidy. Jessi is NOT being a wimp. She is still incredibly bad ass. There is a reason she thinks she is not going to come back. Hope it's good.  
**


	28. Chapter 28

**First of all I'm a huge jerk for updating so late I'm real sorry about that. This chapter is going to be a little different. I just wanted to see if I could write in first person narrative. After this I'm going to go back to writing in third person because that's how I started it. This chapter is written from Declan's point of view. He and the others are patiently waiting outside the Cassidy's hideout and then run into Mark and Jackie who greatly help them out.**

I really, really, hate Arizona. Especially in the summer time. I didn't know exactly how hot it was but it had to be in the triple digits. My whole life, I've lived up in Seattle so I'm not at all used to this kind of heat. And unfortunately my car's AC stopped working a while back. This wasn't really a problem while we were driving because I just drove with the windows down. But now we were just parked on the side of the road about a half a mile down from the Madacorp building that Cassidy was secretly using for his experiment and suddenly the damn thing just stopped working. All the windows were open but that didn't help at all since there wasn't even a slight breeze. God I really hate this place.

Kyle and Jessi had the hood up and were trying to figure out what went wrong with my AC. According to the plan we were supposed to pretend like our car had broken down, only now we weren't pretending, there was something actually wrong with my car and it sucked!

"Okay, see this right here? This is your compressor. It's supposed to be turning. But it's not." Kyle explained. "The fuses are okay and I don't think it's a wiring problem. Your refrigerant level must be low. Most cars automatically turn off the compressor when the refrigerant level is too low. You need to get that checked out when we get back home."

"But dude, we need the AC now." I said desperately with sweat dripping down my forehead. "You guys seriously don't know how to fix this?" I couldn't believe that there was something that Kyle and Jessi couldn't fix.

"We know how but we don't have the proper equipment," Jessi said.

I groaned in frustration. Why couldn't the AC go bad when we were still in Seattle so that I would have had time to get it fixed? No, it just had to go bad in Arizona where the temperature was…I wasn't quite sure.

"Kyle. I know you have like a thermometer in your brain. How hot is it right now?" I asked him as we got back into the car.

"Well right now it is one 103 degrees farenheit or thirty 39.4 degrees celcius," he answered confirming my assumption that it was in triple digits. I noticed that his voice didn't sound nearly as exhausted as mine, and of course it made me jealous. I've seen this guy running into a burning building and coming out with his clothes on fire but his skin wasn't burned at all. If he could withstand that kind of heat then this was nothing to him. I guess I was also a little mad that he wasn't suffering like I was because it was thanks to him and his girlfriend that we were stuck out here doing this.

Kyle and Jessi had this retarded plan that we should wait out here, pretend like our car had broken down and watch the parking lot for any cars coming out. When one of the cars from that building comes driving by in our direction Foss and I would stop him and ask him for help. We'd distract him with small talk and if that didn't work Foss would pull his piece out and scare him but we didn't want it to come to that. The road was pretty deserted but we still didn't want to risk getting spotted. Anyway while all this is going on the pod kids would use their powers to short out the spark plugs and shut down his engine. Then they'll put him to sleep by moving all the blood away from his brain painlessly. So basically we were hoping to kidnap a Latnok scientist without making it look like a kidnapping. He would then help us break into Cassidy's hideout without making a big scene. I personally thought the plan was brilliant, much better than charging in their with a mask on, which is how they did it the last time. Then my air conditioning failed and I thought the plan was just stupid. Yeah I know kidnapping is a huge crime but seriously who gives a crap about them, this is Latnok we're talking about. They do even worse stuff than that. Cassidy murdered Jessi's mother and threatened to harm Kyle's family! I could care less what happens to him and his helpers. If Foss went insane and put a bullet in the head of every person in there I wouldn't lose any sleep over it and I knew Jessi wouldn't either. Kyle might throw a big tantrum though.

We all took turns watching the parking lot through binoculars for any cars coming out. But not a single goddamn car had moved. So we kept ourselves entertained by talking about random, retarded stuff. Like which character from The Breakfast Club we all were. Kyle was the nerd because he was so smart. Emily was the preppy girl because she was hot. I wanted to be the jock but then who would Foss be? So we decided that Foss was going to be the jock and I was the rebel. And of course it's pretty obvious who ended up being the basket case. She was mad about it but face it, she matches the character perfectly. We did a bunch more of that for different movies.

Sometimes Kyle and Jessi asked me dumb stupid questions on various topics to test my knowledge. They really liked doing this because I always got the answers wrong or just didn't care enough to answer which gave them the chance to explain it to me in great vivid detail. For some reason they absolutely loved explaining things to me even though I didn't even pay attention or just ended up forgetting. I don't know why they even bother.

"Do you know why Arizona is so arid?" Kyle asked me even though I tried my best to show that I wasn't interested.

"Uh, I don't know, because it's so hot I guess." But apparently from the look on his face that wasn't it. I sighed. It was easier to just humor him. "I don't know Kyle. Why does Arizona suck so bad? Educate me."

Kyle looked like a little kid who was absolutely thrilled he finally got his chance to show the grown ups how smart he was. Okay that was a little mean. Kyle wasn't really a showoff. He was doing this because he actually thought he was helping me learn and he liked helping people. Jessi was the real showoff. "The reason this region is so dry is because…"

I tuned his voice out and kept nodding my head and saying "uh-huh, yeah, go on" without really listening to what he was saying. A habit I picked up from hanging out with Hillary. Look I'm not being a jerk to Kyle or anything. I just wasn't interested in any of this stuff and believe me I've told him this multiple times but he just won't give up on me. People like that are annoying. "…and by the time it crosses over the top of the mountain there's no moisture left and that's why this desert receives so little rain," he finished up his lecture.

"Kyle, why are you wasting your time?" Emily asked him without taking her eyes of the binoculars. "The kid's not even listening. I can tell that without even having to look at him." She always referred to me as 'the kid.'

"Of course I'm listening," I lied. "I heard everything he said. It's so arid because…by the time it crosses over the top of the mountain… there's no moisture left and that's why there's no rain," I said hastily piecing together the last words of Kyle's explanation. I'd probably forget it in about a minute.

"You're hopeless," Jessi said shaking her head in pity and playfully punching the back of my seat. She knew that I didn't care about any of this but like Kyle she didn't want to give up on me. I think Jessi understood me better than Kyle did. She and I had really gotten to know each other this month and I think I was beginning to get even closer to her than Kyle. Not in that way though. We were only friends. "I wish I had the chance to tutor you back in high school," she said smirking. Jessi had her own definition of tutoring. She'd bombard you with questions like it was a CIA interrogation and if you got them wrong she'd punish you by making you do push ups. I saw her with Josh that day. No thanks.

"You should all be drinking Gatorade," Foss reminded us for what must have been the twentieth time. "That means you too, Kyle and Jessi. Just because you can block out the discomfort of the heat doesn't mean your bodies aren't getting dehydrated."

I looked at Kyle enviously. He didn't seem dehydrated at all. Like the rest of us he was covered in beads of sweat but he was totally comfortable in this weather. I wish I was gestated in a pod for sixteen years. I would totally choose superhuman abilities over a regular childhood any day. I finished drinking up the rest of my Gatorade and tossed the bottle out of the window but strangely I didn't hear it hitting the ground. So naturally I turned my head and looked outside my window to see where the bottle was and BAM it comes flying through the window and hits me right in the face. "Ow! Jessi I know that was you! What the hell is your problem?" I said turning around to face her angrily. She had a very amused and satisfied expression on her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to litter?" she scolded me. "It's bad for the environment."

"Oh come on! Why do you even care about this place?" I responded agitatedly. "Look around you. We're surrounded by dirt. Do you even see a single goddamn tree? The environment here already sucks because nothing grows here." In the back of my mind I knew the smart thing to do was just listen to her and not litter because by arguing with her she's now going to give me a huge scientific lecture on why I'm wrong and annoy the hell out off me.

"You're wrong!" Jessi shot back indignantly. "Declan, just because there are no trees here, doesn't mean that nothing lives here. The desert is home to _many _species of plants and animals that have special adaptations for this climate. Just by looking around I can see the…" she proceeded to name a bunch of those thorny, ugly desert plants. I couldn't understand why she felt so strongly about such a simple thing. But I wasn't in the mood for yet another damn scientific lecture. She and Kyle had given me enough of those. It was way too hot for this shit. I just couldn't help myself.

"Jessi please just shut up! It was just one bottle! Stop being such an oversensitive treehugger! It was cute at first but after a while it gets really annoying! Grow the hell up!" I snapped at her. Wow. Those words sounded so much nicer in my head. I immediately regretted saying them. Kyle sighed and looked at me dissaprovingly shaking his head. He didn't look mad. Instead it was more of a 'when will you ever learn' type of look. Emily put down her binoculars and anxiously watched to see how Jessi would react. Even Foss looked tense. Jessi looked completely flabbergasted by my response and at first she didn't know what to say.

"Wha…did you…_Treehugger_?!" she sputtered in rage and disbelief. To say she was pissed off would be a major understatement. She looked like this sexy demonic vampire that was about to rip my chest open with her claws, yank my heart out and eat it right there in front of everybody. Her face got all red, her eyes got all big, and then the yelling started. "You know what?! People like you are the reason why this planet is going downhill and all because you're so _ignorant_ and _stupid_ that you can't even understand that you're destroying your own children's future and…" Foss covered his ears. Emily was covering her mouth trying her best to muffle her laughter. And Kyle was looking at me with an expression that said 'what did you think would happen?'

_Fine, I'll let her scream at me until she's tired and then I'll just pretend to sincerely apologize, _I thought. In the mean time I decided I would do the same thing I always do in this kind of situation. Just nod my head and pretend to listen and agree when I'm not really listening to her at all. "Yeah…absolutely…I'm sorry…you're right…I know…yeah." I said at regular intervals while paying absolutely zero attention to what she was yelling about. But Jessi wasn't like Hillary. When I said she understood me better than Kyle I meant it.

"HEY!!! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING ASSHOLE!!! YOU REALLY WANT TO PLAY THAT GAME WITH ME? FINE!!! WE'RE DONE!!! I'M NEVER TALKING TO YOU AGAIN!!! And with that she got out of the car and slammed the door shut quite hard causing the whole car to vibrate and stormed off. Wow. Jessi never cursed at me before. I don't know where she was planning on walking because there was nothing around us for miles besides the Madacorp building. Kyle and I simultaneously got out of the car and ran after her. Damn, I thought it was hot inside the car but it was nothing compared to out here in the desert sun.

"Jessi wait!" I called out to her. "Jessi I'm sorry!" But she wasn't interested in hearing my apology.

"Jessi, he didn't mean it!" Kyle said in my defense.

Jessi turned around and looked at him with her eyes blazing in fury. "Yes he did Kyle! You don't know him as well as you think! He does the same thing to you all the time! He's such a big jerk!" she shouted.

"Jessi you're right. I am a big jerk," I admitted. "I'm a total douche bag and I am so, so, sorry for treating you like that…"

"Shut up. Go away."

Oh man, let me tell you, I felt horrible. I shouldn't have mocked her concern for the environment, I shouldn't have called her a treehugger, and I really shouldn't have ignored her while she was yelling at me for being an ass when I deserved it. This was a mess. The very habit that prevented me from jumping in front of a moving car and killing myself when Hillary was going on and on with her high school gossip also completely backfired on me with Jessi. "Jessi please just listen to me…" I pleaded.

"I said go the fuck away!" she screamed. I felt myself being lifted up into the air by this invisible force and the next thing I know I'm flying backwards towards my car with incredible speed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Luckily Kyle used his powers to catch me in time before I collided with my car. Gently I floated back down to the ground. Holy crap this girl was dangerous! I never quite realized how much harm Kyle and Jessi could do to me if they wanted to. Being their friend was like being a zookeeper in a cage full of friendly lions that tolerated him. Kyle looked at me and held up one finger telling me to give them both a second. I heard hysterical laughing behind me. Gritting my teeth I turned around and to face Emily and Foss who were having a lot of fun at my expense.

"Hey kid, I hope you know you deserved that," Emily said laughing.

"I haven't laughed this hard in years," Foss said trying to catch his breath. Believe me it's true. I have never ever seen this guy laughing the whole time I've known him. Now I find out that the one thing that can make him laugh is me almost getting killed. I rolled my eyes and turned back around. Kyle had his arms around Jessi and they weren't saying anything but I knew they were having a telepathic conversation. Kyle was probably saying how I was a nice guy who just made a mistake and I felt really sorry for it and Jessi was probably saying how she hated me and how she would never forgive me. I waited for them to finish their discussion while praying that Kyle won out and finally they began walking back to the car. Jessi completely ignored me and sat in the driver's seat where I was sitting before. Kyle pulled me to the side.

"She's very upset by what you said," he told me. Thank you Captain Obvious. "Why would you do say that to her?" he asked me.

"I'm sorry, okay. I am truly, incredibly sorry and it was a totally dick move on my part and I'll never be like that to her again." I said sincerely. "So is she going to forgive me or what?"

Kyle saw how bad I felt and he smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry about it. She'll have to forgive you eventually. She loves you like you're her brother. But right now she's really mad at you and I even I don't know how long she's not talking to you for."

I nodded and walked back to my car. "And there's actually one more thing," Kyle said. I stopped and turned around. This heat was unbearable and I just wanted to get inside as fast as possible. I looked at him waiting to hear what he was going to say. "Jessi says she'll only sit inside the car if you're not in it." Okay _what?_ What the hell?

"Kyle, are you seriously going to make me sit outside my own car in this ungodly weather where I could die from a heat stroke?" I demanded.

"No of course not," he innocently replied. "I won't make you do anything. But what do you think you should do?"

Oh come on! What the hell does he call that? He's totally manipulating me to stay outside by making me feel guilty. I took a deep breath. "Fine," I muttered. "Fine I'll stay out here and if I die from a heat stroke then I hope Jessi can at least forgive me at my funeral."

Kyle smiled. "Don't worry, as long as you keep drinking Gatorade you won't get a heat stroke. Humans have been living in places with this temperature for hundreds of thousands of years. It might get very hot but as long as your body is hydrated you'll live." He got back into the car and threw me another Gatorade bottle. Feeling like a total dipshit I sighed and sat down on the road leaning against my car. Almost immediately I jumped back up because the road itself was scalding hot. Great I couldn't even sit down. This day really sucked.

Thankfully though, I didn't have to stand in the heat for long because like two minutes later I heard Emily yelling excitedly, "Hey! I see a car coming onto the road! And they just turned in our direction!" Foss immediately got out of the car.

"Alright, remember the plan," he said. "Kyle, Jessi keep your heads down. We don't want any of these Latnok scientists recognizing you. I'll try to give you as much time as I can."

"Yo, Foss, what should I do?" I asked eagerly wanting to be a part of this.

"Just let me do all the talking and stay out of my way," he simply said. Okay, I could do that.

Foss stood in the middle of the road and signaled the car to stop. As they got closer to him they began slowing down and eventually stopped. The driver rolled down his window. "What's the matter? You're car broke down?" he asked. I couldn't really see his face because Foss was in the way but there was something awfully familiar about his voice. He sounded young. Like maybe my age or a little older. I couldn't remember where I heard it though.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened to it," Foss said to him. "The engine just shut off while we were driving…" he moved and I saw who the driver was. No freaking way in hell…I immediately ran up to them and interrupted their conversation. "Mark? What the hell are you doing here?"

He looked equally surprised to see me but it was like a pleasant surprise. "Dude! What's up! I'm doing an internship with Madacorp. I work over there," he said pointing back to the building. "So what are you doing down here?" he asked. Mark wasn't alone though. There was someone else sitting next to him. "_Jackie_?!"

"Declan…hi…" she said awkwardly.

"You all know each other?" Foss asked me confused. I ignored him. My head was spinning and making all these connections. Mark saw the expression of shock, confusion, and realization on my face and he quickly said, "Dude! Believe me, it's not what it looks like! We're only friends. Trust me she's all yours."

"Actually we've broken up like a month ago," Jackie said without looking at me.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that but I still wouldn't cheat on Lori like that," Mark assured me.

"What? No I wasn't even thinking about that, jackass! Who are you really working for down here? Cassidy?" I demanded.

Mark and Jackie looked at each other with their faces white. "Cassidy?" Mark stammered. "He's been missing ever since…"

"Bullshit Mark! I know he's in that building you guys just came out of and I know what he's trying to clone Kyle! So you're in on all this too, huh? I'm going to kick the shit out of you!" I grabbed his neck and tried to yank him out of his seat but he floored the gas pedal. The car lurched forward like ten feet but then the engine died completely and the car rolled to a stop several feet away. Kyle had Jessi had successfully managed to disable the car. Ignoring the scorching heat from the sun I ran up to them.

"What the hell is wrong with it?" I heard Mark yelling from inside the car. By the time I got there he had rolled up the windows. I began pounding on the glass furiously but to no effect.

"Mark! Open the door you friggin geek! Just wait till Lori finds out what you've been doing!"

"Stop wasting your energy," Foss said rolling his eyes. Kyle and Jessi arrived. Kyle placed his palms on Mark's window while Jessi did the same to Jackie's. Sweet! I've been really looking forward to seeing this! They were telling me earlier about this new trick they learned back when they broke into Madacorp with Emily. You know those cartoons in which someone would scream in a really high pitch and it would actually make glass shatter? That's actually possible although not with your voice. Kyle and Jessi could make the glass vibrate at such a high frequency that the glass would break. It was just like that James bond movie where he uses one of his gadgets to break through a block of ice. I saw little cracks begin to appear where Kyle's fingers touched the glass. Mark looked scared as hell as the cracks began branching off into bigger cracks and a few seconds later the whole window shattered. Jessi's window shattered at the same time. I heard Jackie screaming. Reaching inside I unlocked the door, opened it, and grabbed Mark by the collar and tried to yank him out but the seatbelt held him in place so instead I just settled for choking him.

"Declan! Declan stop!" Kyle yelled as he got between us and pushed me away. He looked at Mark in disappointment. "So when I called you up that day to ask you where Nate was you knew all along, didn't you?"

"Dude it's not like that!" Mark yelled defensively. "We didn't have a choice! He threatened to kill our families! And he actually showed everybody a video feed of the inside of their house. Do you have any idea how creepy it is to know that someone had been inside your parents' house and set up video cameras in every room without them knowing about it? Hell, I don't even have a family of my own, my parents are dead, so guess what; he showed me the inside of _your _house with Lori and her family!"

Actually Kyle and I did have an idea of how creepy that was because like two years ago, Foss did the same exact thing, by putting cameras all over Kyle's house. His intentions were more benevolent but still when we saw the video feed inside his apartment it scared the crap out of us. We thought he was some kind of crazy stalker.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard an incredibly loud smacking noise. I looked and saw Jessi looking stunned with a really red mark on her cheek. Jackie immediately started running away in the direction of the Madacorp building. Holy crap, did Jackie just slap Jessi? Oh boy, she really shouldn't have done that. Running away was pointless because the building was more than half a mile away and there's no way she could sprint that far, especially in this heat. Jessi immediately took off after her like a rocket and wow, she was fast. There was no way Jackie could outrun her. In just a few seconds Jessi had caught up with her and tackled her onto the hard asphalt. "Ouch, that has to hurt," I thought out loud. Kyle sighed and went back to talking to Mark. I jogged up to the girls.

Jessi was on top of Jackie and twisted her arm behind her back "…to run away from me? Well that's what happens," she was growling.

"Okay, Jessi, I think you paid her back pretty good when you tackled her. You can let go now," I said.

"_You_ stay out of this!" She twisted Jackie's arm even more causing her to squeal in pain. She glared at me daring me to do something about it. I couldn't believe she was doing this. I started to get really pissed off myself.

"This is really about me isn't it?" I yelled at her angrily. "If you hate me so much then why don't you just take it out on me? I'm the one who said those things, not her! Go ahead kick my ass! If that's what it takes for you to get over this!"

Jessi let go of Jackie and walked towards me threateningly but I held my ground. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. I knew full well that Jessi was way stronger than me and could do some serious damage to me, even kill me, if she wanted to. She raised her hands a little bit and I thought for a second that she was going to tear my head off and hurl it several miles into the desert but she just put her hands down. She looked at me with a mix of hurt and anger in her eyes like she was about to cry. I don't think she could bring herself to harm me. The only reason she threw me at the car earlier was because she knew that Kyle would save me. Instead she shoved me really hard causing me to fall onto the road and ran off towards my car. I'm pretty sure I heard a sob.

Jackie helped me up. "Damn, what did you do to piss her off so much?" she asked.

I sighed sadly and told her, "I was a complete jerk off. I said some mean things."

Jackie looked surprised. "You? But you're like the nicest guy that I've ever dated."

"Yeah well, remember when we met I told you that I was a nice guy like eighty percent of the time? I guess she just happened to be there in that twenty percent." She had a cut on her head from falling being tackled on the road. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she said smiling. We just looked at each other for a few seconds without knowing what to say. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still attracted to her but I was still mad at her for breaking up with me. "We should get back to Mark and the others," she said. I nodded and we walked back to Mark's car together.

"So why is Cassidy using you guys? Aren't there enough Latnok scientists?"

"Cassidy's not actually with Latnok," Jackie explained. "Although we think he has a contact at Latnok who's working with him. He wants to sell these clones to Latnok because he knows how much they're willing pay for them. He needed us because we're the best qualified people he knows for the job and we've already sort of helped him without knowing." Cassidy had used her and the rest of the students to rebuild the pod in which Kyle had spent the first sixteen years of his life. Of course they didn't know about it. They all contributed to it one piece at a time and all their projects had other uses so they didn't suspect anything. "With Madacorp giving us everything we needed we were able to build more than a hundred of those pods. And I don't know where Cassidy got it from but he has this fluid that he's going to fill them up with and…wait so how do you know about all this?" she asked curiously.

"Kyle found out about a month ago," I told her.

"Look we can't stay out here for long," Mark was saying when we got there. "Otherwise Cassidy will get suspicious. We have to be back in there in forty five minutes."

"We can't let you go back! You'll warn him!" I protested.

"No we won't. You think we like working for him? He's basically holding us prisoner in there."

Kyle studied him carefully. He could tell when someone was lying. "He's being honest," he said. "But we want to break in there as soon as possible and we need your help in doing it," he said to Mark.

Mark thought for a while. "Maybe there is something that we can do," he said. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet and opened it. He pulled out some kind of an I.D card. "This will allow you to get past any locked doors," he said. "But there's still the problem of guards…" he went back to thinking. "Okay look. The guards at the main entrance are supposed to end their shift at 9:00 tonight. But sometimes they actually get off like five minutes before then. You need to be in the parking lot at the time. You'll have only a few minutes before the next shift comes on watch. Use this card to get in through the main entrance. Oh yeah there's cameras watching the entrance so I don't know what you're going to do about that."

"Don't worry about that," Kyle told him. "But how are you going to get back inside without your card?"

"I'll give Cassidy a call and tell him this guy robbed us and stole our wallets. It'll seem like the truth because my windows are busted and Jackie's got a cut on her head." He handed Kyle his I.D. card while Jackie handed hers to me. "Oh yeah, I need to tell you where in the building these pods are," he said remembering.

"I think I already know," Kyle said. "There's a large room, five hundred and fifty seven square feet in area, five floors below ground level. If there are as many pods as you say there are then that's where he'll be keeping them."

"Um…yeah that's…that's right. But did you know about the room?" Mark asked amazed.

"Jessi and I memorized the whole internal layout of the building. We know where every room, staircase, and elevator is, and how to get to them."

"But you still need to tell us where the security office is," Foss said. "Once we're inside the building we need to take that room first so we don't have to worry about being spotted by cameras."

Mark began explaining to us exactly how to get to the security office. It was a lot and there was no way me or Foss would remember it but we knew that Kyle would remember it exactly. And then he told us where Cassidy's office was. "Oh yeah, there's one more thing. We think that Cassidy is secretly working with one of the senior members at Latnok. We have no idea who it is; we have no idea who any of the senior members are. But you should know that even if you manage to stop Cassidy tonight, that person is still out there…"

"We'll deal with her soon enough," Kyle said. I can't sense emotions but the anger in his voice was clearly audible.

"Her?" Mark was confused. "I'm sorry, you know who it is?"

"She's my biological mother."

"Okay….this whole thing just got way, way more confusing…"

"We have to be getting back now," Jackie said. "Cassidy will get suspicious."

"Yeah you're right. Kyle after you're done tonight you need to tell me the whole story. From the very beginning when you were created. You owe me that for helping you not once but twice," he said smiling. He then turned to me with a serious expression. "Please, don't tell Lori about this. The whole reason I was doing this was for her. You would have done the same thing for her wouldn't you?"

I didn't like this guy. Maybe it was because I was jealous that he was dating Lori, because I couldn't understand what she would ever see in a guy like him, I don't know. But he was definitely one of the good guys. Of that I was now certain. I nodded and gave him my word, "I won't."

"Thank you so much for your help, you guys," Kyle said gratefully. "I promise, by tomorrow morning you and everyone else who is being forced to work will be free."

"Good luck bro. Are you sure you'll remember everything I told you? I mean it was a lot…" Kyle gave him a look. Mark laughed. "Of course you will."

"Declan, please tell me you're not going with them," Jackie said worriedly.

I scoffed. What the hell did she think? "Of course I am. Why else would I have come down here with them?"

"But you can't!" she protested. "There's absolutely nothing special about you."

"Thanks a lot. Is that why you broke up with me?" I asked sarcastically. I knew she didn't actually mean it like that.

"Oh come on you know I didn't mean it like that. I'm saying that you're not like Kyle and Jessi. You could get seriously hurt, maybe even die and you're not even as old as I am. You've helped them out enough."

"Actually I haven't helped them out yet," I said truthfully. "I'm hoping I actually get to do something this time."

"But why?" she asked incredulously. "What are you trying to prove here? Why can't you just be normal and go to college or get a job or something?"

"I do have a job. I'm his bodyguard," I said pointing to Kyle. She looked completely baffled.

"Look I've been looking forward to this for way too long. There's no way I'm backing down now." I said adamantly. I was starting to get annoyed. If she cared about me so much then why the hell did she break up with me?

"I don't want to lose you…"

"Jackie what the hell are you talking about? You already lost me when you dumped me for a stupid ass reason. If you didn't want any commitment you should have made that clear from the very beginning instead of leading me on like that!"

"I don't think now's the time or the place for us to be discussing our relationship…"

"You're right. I don't think we should be discussing anything at all. You should be heading back to work now," I said coldly. Jackie and I just glared at each other for a few seconds.

"Are you guys done?" Mark's voice interrupted us. We had forgotten that he was right here listening to the whole thing. Jackie nodded her head and got in the car without saying anything. Mark turned the car around and drove back to the building. He waved to us as he passed us. Jackie didn't even look at me though.

I didn't have time to think about her. There were much more important things to think about like our mission tonight. I thought of everything the team had managed to acomplish. Just three weeks ago Kyle was saying that Cassidy could be anywhere in the world and we'd never find him. Back then it really looked like he was impossible to find. But after fighting through a casino full of heavily armed Triads, Jessi and Foss had managed to find him. With Emily's help Kyle and Jessi broke into Madacorp and now had a map of our target building in their heads. They knew their way around in there without ever having been inside. And thanks to Mark and Jackie we now had a way of breaking in undetected. Finally. It would all end tonight. Time to finish the fight. Okay I'm sorry I know how unoriginal that sounds but I don't care. Tonight we were going to get our revenge on Cassidy for all the shit that he's done. In the meantime I had to find a way to make things right with Jessi.

**This is the only chapter that will be written in first person. I just wanted to see what it was like. This whole story Jessi and Declan have been getting along great but like all friends they had to get into an arguement eventually. Now I know I have been delaying the ending for way too long, I guess because I like writing this and just keep adding more and more stuff, but the next chapter really will be the final battle. I promise I'll make it as action packed as I can. Now about the previous chapter...I guess I made it a little too obvious what Jessi was planning. I wasn't actually going to make her die, I was going to make it look like Cassidy killed and the next chapter I was going to reveal that she survived. But now I'm going to have to change that up a little bit. **


	29. Chapter 29

**In this chapter they finally go after Cassidy. Yeah I know, finally, right? I've delayed it for way too long. Well this is the first part of the battle and it's mostly about them sneaking in stealthily so there isn't that much fighting until the end of the chapter when their cover is blown and Jessi shows off her asskicking skills. The next part there will be a LOT of fighting.**

The sun had already set a few minutes ago but the sky was still orange when a car drove towards a tall building in the distance. From the outside there didn't seem anything special about this building. It just looked like a regular office building belonging to one of the largest corporations in the world. However unknown to people outside the corporation and even most people in the corporation, this building was being used for some very illegal experiments. From his office Cassidy looked out the window and watched the lone vehicle drive by on the road below. His heart started racing but then he closed his eyes and took some deep breaths to make him calm down. _You're just being paranoid again _he told himself in his head.

Everything had been going great for him until now. Mark, Jackie, and the other kids from UW had spent the last three weeks creating more than a hundred of those pods (it helped a lot that Madacorp was providing them with anything they needed) and making enough fluid to fill them all. Cassidy had everything he needed but time. Everyday he was getting more and more paranoid that Kyle and Jessi were going to find him. Just three days ago Taylor called him up and told him that they broke into Madacorp headquarters and stole something off his computer although no one was sure what. That place was much more heavily guarded than this place. There weren't even any cameras in the parking lot besides the two watching the main entrance. And if some one did break into this place, the alarm wouldn't go to the police because obviously they didn't want the police to find what they were doing here.

And to make things worse, today afternoon, Mark's car was broken into and everything inside, including his and Jackie's I.D. cards were stolen. They both said it wasn't Kyle or Jessi who did it but Cassidy was too smart to believe that. If it wasn't them then it was probably a friend of theirs like Emily Hollander. She helped them break into Madacorp didn't she? And who would steal an I.D. card unless they knew what it was used for? The first thing he did was deactivate their cards on his computer so no one would be able to use them anymore but Kyle and Jessi would find a way. They always find a way…

Cassidy's thoughts were interrupted by an alarm ringing on his cellphone. He opened it and looked at the time. Soon his mother would be arriving by helicopter to generally see how things have been going. Cassidy walked out of his office and headed for the roof of the building where the helicopter was going to land. As he walked away he didn't notice Mark peeking around a corner watching him leave. As soon as Cassidy was out of sight, Mark turned to Jackie and said, "Okay, he's gone. Let's do this."

The two of them quietly walked into Cassidy's office and headed for the computer. Jackie sat down in the chair and immediately went to work trying to crack his password. She attacked the keyboard with her fingers, furiously typing stuff, while Mark watched over her shoulder. "What? Access denied?" she said surprised and annoyed.

Mark chuckled and shook his head. "Stand aside. Let the real genius try," he said to her. Jackie rolled her eyes and got out of the way. Mark sat down and tried to do what Jackie couldn't. She carefully watched him to see what he was doing that she should have done. After a few seconds Mark stopped typing and looked up at her with a very broad grin on his face.

Jackie scoffed. "Whatever, computer hacking isn't really my specialty anyway," she said. She watched him navigate the computer with the mouse. After opening some files and folders they finally found what they were looking for. Mark clicked on it.

"Our cards are now reactivated," he said sounding very pleased with his computer hacking skills.

"Don't log off yet," Jackie told him. "How cool would it be if we locked him out of his own computer?" she suggested with a mischievous smile.

"Way ahead of you Jackie…"

Cassidy was right to suspect the vehicle driving by because it parked itself right outside the parking lot. Unlike the Madacorp headquarters up in Seattle this building had very little security outside. There was nobody guarding the parking lot so anybody could basically come in there and park. Emily was explaining her theory on why the security here was so light compared to what they faced in Seattle.

"When I was boss there was nothing special about this place. It was just a regular office building with a lot of underground space for storage. But there wasn't any scientific stuff being done here. Taylor must have had it converted it into a laboratory very recently. But from the look of things he still hasn't had time to upgrade the security," she was saying.

"But we've only seen the outside," Foss pointed out. "For all we know the inside could be crawling with guards and have cameras around every corner. And turn that shit off!" he yelled at Declan who had been blasting Jessi's Avril Lavigne CD from his speakers for the whole ride here. Now that they were waiting in the parking lot he was playing it at a much lower volume so they wouldn't attract any attention but it was still incredibly annoying to Foss. "You've been listening to that crap for the past thirty minutes!"

"Hey! This is my car, Foss! I'm going to play whatever the hell I want to play and if you don't like it then go wait outside!" Declan shouted back with surprising assertiveness. He then increased the volume a little bit. It was quite obvious that Declan hated Avril Lavigne as much as Foss but everyone knew there was only one reason he was playing it. There was only one person in this car who liked listening to Avril Lavigne and he was trying to be as nice to her as possible. Declan had been trying all day to make up with Jessi but he didn't know if it was working or not because now she wasn't mad anymore she just seemed really distant not only towards him but towards everybody except Kyle. Foss and Emily actually felt bad for him. Neither could understand why Jessi was mad over such a simple thing but then she was Jessi. Foss looked over at Emily who was sitting next to him to see how she was coping. He couldn't believe it when he saw her bopping her head to the music.

"You actually like this stuff?" he asked her in disbelief.

Emily laughed. "No not really. But I guess I'm used to it after having to listen to it for eight months. I don't know why Ballantine couldn't just make Jessi listen to Nirvana or Pearl Jam or something."

"So you were a 90s alternative girl, huh?" Foss said shaking his head and smiling. "I can't picture you wearing a flannel shirt and looking like you were homeless."

"Are you kidding me? I was a teenager growing up in Seattle right when the whole country was jumping on the grunge bandwagon. I saw all those bands before they even became famous. Man those were some good times…So what are you into?" she asked.

"Guns&Roses, Motley Crue, Van Halen, ACDC…" Foss went on to name a bunch of 80s bands.

As they nostalgically talked about their favorite bands and their teenage years, Jessi and Kyle were quite busy in the back of the SUV trying to make out as quietly as they could and maybe take it further than that if they could get away with it. The thought that Emily and Foss were sitting right in front of them and had no idea what they were doing gave them both such a rush. Even Kyle who normally wouldn't do such a thing just didn't give a damn about getting caught right now. Pretty soon they would be fighting and trying not to get shot, so why the hell not? The adrenaline flowing in his bloodstream had made a lot more adventurous and Jessi loved it. They both gasped into each other's mouths as they felt that electric current they loved so much jumped from one tongue to another in the form of a spark. Kyle and Jessi didn't know it but Emily and Foss were perfectly aware of what was going on behind them but they were trying their best to ignore it. They awkwardly pretended like they didn't know and were both trying to distract themselves by talking to each other. Finally Emily couldn't take it anymore.

"I feel like we should say something," she whispered to Foss. "I know she's not really my sister but I can't help but feel…over protective I guess."

"It's none of our business though. We're not their parents. And all they're doing is kissing right?" Foss whispered back. Emily didn't answer. Foss raised an eyebrow. "Right?" he asked her again.

"I don't know! I don't want to look back there."

"Hey, Declan," Foss called. "Hey could you please turn it up a little bit? We'd really appreciate it."

Declan gave him a weird look. First, Foss had said please, and second, he wanted it louder but a minute ago he was just telling him to turn it off. He shrugged and turned up the Avril Lavigne.

They all heard the sound of a helicopter but didn't think anything of it. There was nothing special about a helicopter. However on the roof of the building Cassidy was waiting as the helicopter slowly landed on its pad. The door opened and two men who looked like they were dressed in SWAT gear with all the body armor and the face shield jumped out and scanned the roof for any threat. They were armed with any puny pistols either. Those were fully automatic assault rifles. Cassidy was a little amused at how seriously these Latnok bodyguards took their job but he was glad they did. A week ago his mother had sent a whole bunch of them to help with the security just incase the regular Madacorp guards turned out to be no match for Kyle and Jessi, and Cassidy knew they weren't. These guys on the other hand were highly trained and very well equiped. They had all prior combat experience and had no problem with killing. If Kyle and Jessi managed to sneak in and sabotage the experiment they weren't getting out alive, of that he was confident.

"Mother, welcome, I hope you had a pleasant flight," Cassidy said smiling politely.

Grace did not smile back. "I most certainly did not," she replied. "Now Michael, I've taken time out of my busy schedule to come see you so you better impress me."

Cassidy swallowed hard. No matter what he said it wouldn't be enough for his mother. He would never be able to impress her. "We have managed to build a hundred and sixteen pods and we have fluid for all of them. We are finally ready to begin the cloning process," he said as he led her downstairs to give her a tour.

Just as he expected her response was, "You mean to tell me you haven't even started yet?"

Meanwhile many floors below, everyone was spending their last few minutes in the car in a very tense silence. In just five minutes it would be time to start their mission. Jessi heard all the heartbeats of everyone around her. They were all beating faster than normal but Foss was probably the most relaxed out of all of them. Followed by herself, then Kyle, then Emily, and of course, Declan whose heart was beating the fastest. "Declan, your heart is beating really fast," she told him breaking the silence.

He turned around looking surprised to hear her address him. Then he gave her that same look he always gave Kyle when Kyle pointed out something really obvious. That look was often followed by a sarcastic remark such as 'really Kyle, I didn't know that' or a 'thank you Captain Obvious' which for some reason Jessi thought was the most hilarious thing in the world even though it wasn't _that_ funny. But now Declan wasn't in the mood to make sarcastic comments. "Of course it's beating fast. We're about to walk into something really intense here. Aren't you even a little nervous?" he asked.

"Hmm, well, I guess I'm a _little _nervous but not that much because I've already done something like this twice already. But you know what I do when I get really nervous before a mission?"

"What?" Declan asked.

"I think of something I really want to do. Then after I complete the mission I reward myself by doing that." Jessi answered. "That way I can just look forward to getting the reward." She thought of her reward this time with a bitter smile. Cassidy going to jail for the rest of his life…

"So…what we did after the Madacorp mission…that was the reward?" Kyle asked her. "You had that planned before we even started that mission?"

"Of course I did," Jessi said with a mischievous smile. "Why? You don't like the idea that I completely manipulated you into breaking Steven's and Nicole's rule?"

Kyle really didn't mind. "I just thought it was more spontaneous, like one thing led to another, but it doesn't really matter. I enjoyed it." he told her.

"Kyle, nothing I do is just spontaneous. I plan everything I do and if I want something I go after it. I think that's how everyone should be."

"If you guys don't mind me asking, what are you talking about?" Emily asked curiously.

"Bowling," Kyle replied quickly. It was the first thing that came to mind.

Everyone in the car besides Jessi gave him a weird look.

"Anyway, that's a pretty good idea and I'm going to try that." Declan said. "After were done here I think I'm gonna reward myself by getting completely trashed. You know what we all should do that. Mark and Jackie can join us; I know that girl likes to party. Foss and Emily are buying. Kyle don't ruin it by saying no."

"Let's just focus on the mission for now, then we'll see," Foss told them.

They checked all checked their gear to make sure they all had everything they needed. They were all wearing bullet proof vests that may or may not stop a bullet. Foss and Emily had guns and plenty of rubber bullets so they wouldn't kill anyone but knock them down temporarily. Emily had a syringe with a sedative that could keep someone asleep for hours. She would make sure no one shot with a rubber bullet would get back up and shoot them in the back. Foss also had several flash grenades that could temporarily blind someone. Kyle and Jessi didn't have any weapons but they didn't really need them. Declan had nothing because Foss didn't want him fighting yet. He would contribute in some other way. They were all wearing backpacks loaded with explosives to destroy the pods and incase they needed to open any doors. Declan found it ironic as hell that he had a pack loaded with C4 he didn't even know how to use but had nothing to defend himself with.

As soon as the car's clock which was also cellphone time read 8:55 Declan turned it off and they all got out of the car and began sprinting towards the main entrance of the building, approaching it from the side so they wouldn't be seen by the two cameras. As soon as they got there, Kyle immediately focused on manipulating the electrical current inside the camera to temporarily disable it. He nodded to Foss who wasted no time because he knew Kyle couldn't keep them disabled for long otherwise the guards would know. He swiped Mark's I.D. in the slot on the door but before he opened it he spotted three more cameras watching the entrance from the inside. He signaled Jessi to come forward and pointed to the cameras. She concentrated and did the same thing as Kyle. After she nodded Foss opened the door and he and Emily ran inside and swept the room with their weapons ready to shoot anything that moved. But Mark was right and the guards had left their shift early. Foss knew they didn't have much time before the next shift came to replace them at 9:00. Foss and Emily ran all the way to the other end of the room and stopped right under the cameras where they couldn't be seen. As soon as they reached there Foss nodded to the others telling to follow. Kyle was the last one to go into the building because he had to make sure everyone was inside before he let the camera see again.

Meanwhile in the room with all the screens the guards were getting briefed by Cassidy's second in command who was none other than Nate.

"As you guys already know by now, earlier today someone broke into the car of one of our employees and stole everything in there including two I.D. cards. Cassidy thinks someone's going to try to break in here tonight. He wants you all to be extra vigilant. If anyone attempts to break in here you are ordered to use deadly force. I'm warning you for your own safety. Do _not _underestimate these guys. Do _not _hesitate to kill them or they will kill you. There were only three of them at Madacorp and yet they managed to beat the shit out of a bunch of cops who were all armed with guns without using any weapons themselves. If you see them you better not hesitate to pull the trigger or they will make you regret it, assuming they don't kill you instantly."

The way that Nate described this mysterious threat to the guards scared the hell out of them. But at the same time they were all determined to do their job and protect the building no matter what it took. Nate scared them into thinking that it was kill or be killed. All these guards had families to go home to and they wouldn't let anyone prevent them from doing that.

"Just one thing though," one of the guards told Nate. "Those I.D. cards have been deactivated. No one can use them anymore."

"Regardless you still need to…hey! What's the matter with those screens?"

All the guards turned around to see what Nate was talking about. By the time they looked the screens had gone back to normal. They turned back around looking confused. "Uh, what screens sir?" the same guard asked him.

"That, that, and that," Nate pointed to three TV screens. "A second ago they weren't working. There was no picture all I saw was static."

"We'll have one of our techs check it out right now," the guard said to him.

"This isn't the time to be fixing cameras!" Nate shouted angrily. "This should have been done long ago. How long have you had this problem?"

The guards looked at each other confused waiting for one of their co-workers to answer. After no one said anything the guard who was talking said, "We were never aware of any problem, sir. And according to our log book, none of the other shifts were either. Those cameras have been working fine until now. And they seem fine right now…"

Nate carefully studied the three screens waiting for them to malfunction again. All of a sudden he realized what he was looking at. "Wait a minute, this is the main entrance!"

The guard didn't know what was so special about that. "Yeah, so…"

Nate ran his hands through his long hair and looked down thinking. "I think they might be in the building already," he said in a low voice sounding a little scared.

"What? There's no way they could…"

"And why the hell not?" Nate snapped. "Look I know what I saw. Those three cameras all watching over the main entrance stop working together. And then they all come back on at the same time like nothing ever happened. And this happens on the same day that those idiots lose their I.D. cards. Isn't that the least bit suspicious to you morons?"

"Look if they're going to come in, it's not going to be through the main entrance. First of all those cards don't work anymore, second, how the hell can they disable the cameras like that?"

"Oh trust me, these guys can," Nate said seriously.

"Okay well even if they could it wouldn't matter because we have guys stationed over there," the guard tried to reassure him.

"What guys?!" Nate yelled. "I don't see anybody in these screens!"

"Well they…sometimes they leave their shift a few minutes early…" the guard confessed sheepishly.

Nate was dumbstruck by their stupidity and incompetence. He pulled out his cellphone and called Cassidy.

Cassidy picked up. "I'm a little busy right now so this better be important."

"Yeah I think this is a little more important than impressing mommy. I think we might have intruders in the building."

For a few seconds there was silence on the other end. Then Nate heard Cassidy's voice saying, "Excuse me mother I have to take this…"

"Alright why do you think that?" he asked Nate in a hushed voice.

"Three of the cameras watching over the main entrance from the inside all stopped working together. A few seconds later they all went back to normal at the same time. And the idiots who were supposed to be watching the main entrance weren't even at their post when it happened!" Nate hissed furiously. "Kyle and Jessi could have walked right in and no one would have even seen them!"

"But how would they have gotten in through the main entrance when the I.D. cards have been deactivated?"

"Are you sure it's deactivated? Check again to make sure no one's tampered with it. They could have inside help. I'm thinking maybe Mark and Jackie weren't robbed at all."

Elsewhere in the building…

Now that they had all successfully managed to sneak into the building (hopefully none of the guards noticed the cameras temporarily not working) their first priority was to take out the guards in the room with all the screens so that they don't have to worry about those damn cameras. Kyle was the only one who knew how to get there since he remembered what Mark told him word for word so he was leading the way. Emily was the last one and she was making sure that no one would sneak up behind them. As Kyle approached a turn he stopped and everyone stopped behind him. He took out that mirror that Foss had given him and used it to look around the corner without exposing himself. Instead of seeing a camera however Kyle saw a confused pair of eyes looking right back at him through the reflection.

Kyle reached around the corner and grabbed the guard standing there and pulled him back around the corner where the rest of the team was waiting. The guard struggled against Kyle but was no match for his strength. "Hey! What the hell are you…" Kyle covered his mouth so he wouldn't yell and pinned him against the wall. Emily quickly injected him with the sedative. The man stopped struggling. Kyle let go of him and body fell onto the floor knocked out.

"Nice and easy," Declan whispered.

"They're not all going to be like that," Foss told him.

Kyle picked up the guard's baton. "I might need this," he told the others.

"Yeah, Kyle, that's what I'm talking about," Declan said with a big grin. "You ready to crack some skulls with that?"

"Hey I want one too," Jessi said. "I hope we run into some more guards so I can take theirs."

"Well I guess it's better than taking their gun," Emily said. She turned to Declan and said warningly, "Don't even think about it."

They continued sneaking through the hallways looking around every corner for cameras and disabling them when they found them so they could quickly sneak past them. However to Nate watching the screens it was obvious that they were in the building and he could tell exactly where they were by which camera had malfunctioned.

"The camera near the intersection of hallway 7 and corridor B just stopped working," he notified the guards in the room with him. "Send all the guards nearby by to intercept them." They did as he told.

Kyle looked over a corner and quickly pulled the mirror back. He turned to the others and said, "A lot of guards are running in this direction. I think they know we're over here."

"Well I guess we have to fight then," Jessi said with a thin eager smile. "I was getting tired of all this sneaking around anyway." She and Kyle dropped their backpack, ran over the corner and faced the incoming guards. The guards stopped running and pointed their weapons at them but suddenly all their legs were somehow pulled up from under them and their bodies did back flips in the air before they landed painfully on the floor. The first guard who tried to get back on his feet, Jessi sent flying straight up so his head hit the light on the ceiling and shattered it sending sparks flying everywhere. Jessi then used her mind to pull one of the guard's batons out of their holders and send it flying towards her. She ran forward and caught it.

Behind her Foss and Emily were ready to shoot but they couldn't get a clear shot because they didn't want to accidentally hit Jessi in the narrow hallway. "Jessi get out of the way!" Emily yelled. But Jessi didn't want to do things the easy way. She continued running towards the guards, who were just getting back on their feet, with the baton in her hand. When she was close enough she jumped through the air with her leg sticking straight out and kicked one of the guards in the chest knocking him several feet back. One of the guards to her left pointed his gun at her but she smacked his hand aside with her baton and punched him in the face. She wheeled around and elbowed the guard behind her in the face. One of the guards tried to tackle her down she was way strong for that and he just ended up getting clubbed down by the baton.

Declan and Emily watched in awe as Jessi fought five guys much bigger than her without any of their help. Foss and Kyle didn't look surprised because they already knew what she was capable of. Jessi kept lashing out with the baton with incredible speed hitting a guard all over his body several times in just one second. Before he even began falling she spun around and swinging the baton and smacked guard across the face. One of the guards tried to grab the baton from her but she just head butted him in the face and kneed him in the groin. She then grabbed his body and pulled it between her and another guard who was pointing a gun at her using him like a shield. Of course the guard wouldn't shoot his friend. Jessi pushed the unconscious man's body into the guard that was pointing the gun knocking him down. From the floor he tried pointing the gun at her but she easily kicked it out of his hands and stomped him in the face hard. She spun around once more with the baton raised, ready to bring it down on the head of anybody foolish enough to get back up but this time they stayed down.

Jessi looked at the rest of the team and simply said, "Okay, I'm done. Sorry I didn't save any for you, Kyle."

Kyle shrugged. "That's fine. There'll be plenty more for me. Let's keep going."

**Next chapter Kyle is going to step up and do a LOT more fighting and prove he isn't a pansy. I think I'll split them up into groups like Kyle and Foss can go after Grace, Jessi and Emily go after Cassidy, and Declan might square off against Nate. CptLatnok you're right, the argument from last chapter seems contrived now that I reread the whole thing but I think I have an idea on how to save it without editing. Jessi is not going to die although she's still going to try that crazy idea of hers. Anyways please review.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Well here you go here's part two. I don't know how many parts I'm going to make this into, I'll just keep writing till I run out of ideas I guess. Hope you enjoy.**

Nate watched the fight between Jessi and the five guards on the small screen. Raw fear gripped him as he began to think of what she or Kyle would do to him for helping Cassidy. The guards who watched the fight with him were equally stunned.

"How did she do that, man?" they kept asking one and other. "She's just a chick. And she looks like she's just a teenager." They all shook their heads in disbelief.

"They're in the south west stairwell heading downstairs," one of the guards said over the radio. "I'm going to try to trap them in there." He began clicking something on his computer. "Done," he said looking at Nate satisfied. "All the doors to the stairwell are electronically locked. They ain't coming out." Nate didn't say anything in response but he looked doubtful.

Meanwhile in the stairwell, Kyle and Jessi struggled to open the door but even with their combined strength it wouldn't budge. "They locked us in," Jessi said panting. "They probably deactivated our I.D. cards as well."

"We're going to have to blow them open," Foss said. He looked around the stairwell and found the camera that was watching them. He pointed his gun at it and fired. Even though the rubber bullet was 'soft' compared to a regular bullet it was still enough to damage the camera. "Emily, take out all the other cameras on the remaining floors below. There should only be like four of them. Jessi, watch her back." They both nodded and ran down the stairs. Foss worked quickly. He took out the explosives out of his pack and began attaching them to door.

Elsewhere in the building Nate watched as Foss fired directly at the screen and it suddenly went blank. He watched Emily take out all the other cameras in the four floors below. "Great, now we have no idea what they're planning to do," he said.

"Don't worry sir. There's nothing they _can _do," the guard replied cockily. Hearing this guy talk so confidently as if they still had complete control of the situation infuriated Nate. Hadn't he just seen five of his buddies get the living crap kicked out of them by Jessi? How could he still underestimate them?

The guard continued ordering his men over the radio. "I want all guys on the ground floor and below to gather outside the southwest stairwell on your respective floor. Guys on the ground floor, get ready, I'm going to open the door for you so you can go in and finish them. Remember you are authorized to kill. The rest of you, just make sure they don't come out."

Nate called Cassidy up on his cellphone while all the guards got into position. Cassidy picked it up. "Is it them?" he asked. Nate couldn't see his expression but he could hear the fear in his voice.

"Oh yeah. It's them alright and they're already kicking ass. I just saw Jessi fight five guys at the same time, all of whom had guns, and she mopped the floor with them. These Madacorp guys are no match for them. Good thing we have those Latnok guys, whatever they're called."

"Omega six? Well there's no guarantee that they'll be able to stop them either. We have to get out of here just in case they succeed." Cassidy said. "I'll grab all the necessary data so we can still restart everything somewhere else. I suggest you leave the building while you still can. Kyle might be a little upset over the fact that you helped kidnap him."

Cassidy hung up and turned to his mother.

"Michael, what's wrong?" she asked. "You look terrified."

Now it was time to break the bad news. Cassidy took a deep breath. "It's them," he told her. "They've found us. They're in the building and they're coming to sabotage the experiment again. I'm sorry but we have to get out of here." He braced himself for his mother's usual reaction to such news. However perhaps this time she understood that this really wasn't his fault because she didn't look angry at all.

"Don't worry darling," she said consolingly. "Let them destroy all our hard work, all these pods and all this fluid. Let them think that they've stopped us. We'll just go into hiding and rebuild. As long as we have the formula for the fluid and the blueprints for the pods we always have the option of continuing the experiment somewhere else. By coming so close you've showed me that our dream really is possible. You've completely exceeded my expectations. I'm proud of you my son. Now run along and get that data and I'll wait for you in the helicopter."

All the guards began gathering outside the doors like they were ordered to. They all pointed their guns at the door to make sure that no one would come out. All of a sudden on the B1 floor, an incredibly loud explosion ripped through the door and knocked them far back from the force. Foss and Emily charged out of the smoke and shot the stunned guards with rubber bullets. Nate and the guards in the room heard the explosion all the way there and saw it on screen. Once again the guards began shouting and yelling amongst each other. "These guys have bombs with them? Who the hell are these guys?!"

"Why would they get off on this floor?" the guard who was talking to Nate wondered out loud. "These guys move like they know where they're going but there's nothing important on this floor."

_Except this room _Nate realized. While the guards continued tracking their movements on camera, Nate quietly slipped out of the room without warning them because he knew they wouldn't be able to stop them even if they did know. However he had a pretty good idea what their plan was. They would probably leave that kid, Kyle and Jessi's friend that Jackie was interested in, whatever his name was, in the room and use him to alert them where all the guards were. He would later come back and surprise the bastard when his friends weren't there to protect him.

Kyle led the team through the hallways to their destination which was now close by. He stopped right in front of a turn and used his mirror to look around the corner. All of a sudden several gunshots rang out and a bullet knocked the mirror out of his hand and shattered it. "Kyle let me handle this," Foss said. Kyle nodded and got out of his way. Foss pulled out one of his flash grenades and through it around the corner. It ricocheted of the wall and landed where they couldn't see it. A second later there was a bang and the guards cried out in surprise. Foss and Emily took advantage of their temporary blindness and ran over the corner and sent several rubber bullets slamming into the guards. "All clear," Foss said. Emily then used her syringe to sedate all the wounded guards so they wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Kyle led them to the room where all the cameras were. Obviously the door was locked. By now even the stupidest guards would have figured out what there plan was. Foss once again began attaching explosives to the electronically locked door to blow it open, this time taking them out of Declan's pack since he already used up his. He quickly attached them to the door and once they got far enough away Foss pressed his detonator. Another loud explosion later and the door was blown apart.

Jessi's fight with the guards made her a little too cocky and impatient. She immediately tried to run through the large hole they blasted in the wall with the baton in her hand. However the guards inside the room had been expecting them to blast down the door and had taken cover. Almost immediately they started firing several shots through the smoke without really seeing if they were hitting anything or not. Jessi got hit by a bullet and was knocked down from the impact.

As Kyle watched her go down, everything around him seemed to freeze except her and she was falling in slow motion. It almost felt like time itself was moving in slow motion. All the sounds suddenly went mute. He couldn't hear the gunshots or Declan screaming her name or Foss grabbing his shoulder and telling him to stay back. Never in his two years out of the pod did Kyle feel as scared as he felt now. The thought of losing the girl he loved, the one person in the world who was like him, who understood him better than anyone else did, terrified him more than anything else ever had in his life. He couldn't even hear himself yelling at the top of his voice, "Jessi! Noooooooo!"

Jessi hit the ground and did not get up. First, Kyle tried to pull Jessi back with his mind but he was too shocked and distressed at the moment to concentrate like that. He would have to do this like everybody else. Kyle managed to shake off Foss's hold on him and ran up to where she was lying. As he approached the large hole in the wall he slid on the ground to stay low since the guards would most likely be shooting at chest height. There was still a lot of smoke from the explosion so the guards couldn't even see what they were shooting at. They managed to hit Jessi out of sheer luck. Kyle grabbed her body and began dragging her away from the hole as fast as he could, trying to stay as low as possible. His hearing was back now and he could clearly hear the bullets flying through the air a few inches above his head, even though to a normal person, that noise would be drowned out by the loud gunshots. As soon as he dragged her to safety he frantically looked over her for any wound along with Declan and Emily. He was surprised to see that there was no blood.

"Jessi please…say something," Kyle urged.

Jessi struggled to breathe as the wind was knocked out of her. "…ouch…" she managed to gasp.

"She's fine," Emily said relieved. "Jessi, don't worry, you'll be okay," she told her. "Your armor was able to stop the bullet. You're very lucky. It's gonna leave a mark though. And you might have to sit this one out."

"Don't worry," Kyle said gritting his teeth. "I'll handle them." He walked up to Foss who was pointing his gun towards the opening in the wall waiting for someone foolish enough to poke their head out. "Foss I need a flash grenade," he said.

"Take it from my belt," Foss replied without lowering the gun or taking his eyes away from the opening.

Just as Foss suspected one of the guards tried to come out but Foss fired a shot that barely missed scaring him to try and go back inside for cover. However now that Jessi was safe, Kyle was much more composed and he was able to use his ability to move things without touching them to yank the guy out into the open. Foss and Emily immediately began shooting him with rubber bullets several times and the poor guy screamed in agony. He would live but Kyle knew how much rubber bullets could hurt, and yet for the first time he felt glad at the guard's suffering. He wanted to make them all suffer for almost taking Jessi away from him. Kyle took a flash grenade from Foss and went up to the opening in the wall. He held it out ready to throw it but he realized he didn't even know how to make it work. Luckily Declan came up behind him and took the grenade from his hand.

"Dude, I'll throw it, you go kick their ass," he told his friend. Foss had trained Declan on how to use non-lethal weapons for missions like these.

"Have another one ready just incase I need it," Kyle responded. "When I want you to throw it I'll just call your name."

Declan nodded. "Okay ready…" he pulled the safety pin and threw it inside the room and yelled, "Go!" while running back to Foss to get another one.

Kyle heard a loud bang, not and explosion though, and heard many voices yell as they were startled. Wasting no time Kyle immediately ran into the room and jumped over a desk that he saw someone duck behind as he was coming in. He landed right between two guards who were taking cover behind the desk. One of them realized that he was right next to him and tried to point his gun at him but Kyle simply smacked his wrist aside and pinned it against the desk then punched the guy in the throat causing him to choke. Kyle grabbed the gun from his hand and smacked the guy on the other side of him on the head with it, knocking him out cold. He then did the same to the first guy.

A few feet in front of him another guard was just beginning to get his vision back because he squinted and pointed his gun at him. But Kyle moved faster. Instead of shooting the guard, Kyle threw the gun at him as hard as he could and hit him dead on in the face causing him to fire but miss. The guard clutched his face in pain and grunted, "Argh…you motherfu…" all of a sudden he began floating up into the air. "Hey! What the hell is going on, man?!" he yelled while kicking his legs in the air helplessly.

The two remaining guards watched their friend hover several feet above the ground almost touching the ceiling. Their eyes were still recovering from the flash and they weren't sure if they were hallucinating this. None of them knew what to do. All of a sudden his body flew towards one of them very fast. He managed to dive out of the way but the guard changed course in the air and collided with the second guard, who was not expecting him to turn in mid air, knocking them both down. The first guard watched speechless and realized that Kyle must have somehow been behind it. As soon as he turned around though Kyle had run right up to him and delivered a very hard punch to his face causing him to fall down.

Kyle ran past him at the two others who were just beginning to get back up. He grabbed one of them by the hair and drove his knee into his face. The other guard back on his feet and threw a punch at him but Kyle easily dodged, grabbed his wrist and twisted it painfully forcing the guard onto the ground. Despite being in a painful position the guard started laughing. "What's so funny?" Kyle demanded and put more pressure on the guy's wrist causing him to stop laughing.

"We heard you screaming her name," he said tauntingly. "Was that bitch your girlfriend or something?"

That was it. Kyle effortlessly snapped the guy's wrist causing him let out an incredibly loud, horrible, bloodcurdling scream that made everybody outside, even Foss, wince uncomfortably. He then grabbed the guy's throat to choke out the screaming and began punching his face with his other hand several times causing a lot of blood to spurt out of his nose. He was so busy pounding on the guard's face that he didn't hear another guard that he knocked down get back up on his feet. All of a sudden Kyle heard a gunshot and felt a terrific impact on his back, where the body armor was covering, and was knocked down from the force of it.

The guard walked over to where Kyle was laying and brutally kicked him in the face as hard as he could, causing blood to fly out of Kyle's mouth. He pointed his gun at Kyle's head and said, "I don't know what you are freak, but you obviously ain't no human kid if you could do crazy ass shit like that, so I got no problem killing you. Any last words?"

"D...Dec…Declan!" Kyle sputtered while spitting blood. The guard looked confused.

"What was that freak?" he asked smiling. He was feeling quite vengeful for what Kyle did to his friends.

"Yo, dickface! Over here!" Declan yelled just before he hurled the flash grenade as hard as he could, like it was a baseball, at the guard's head. The guard naturally turned around to look and the grenade hit him in the face and bounced off.

"Ouch! You little bastard…" the guard cursed as he fired several shots but Declan had run back to cover. A second later there was an incredibly bright flash of light that Kyle's eyes weren't shielded from for the first time and he saw what it was like to be on the receiving end of the flash grenade. For a moment everything went white, then just when he thought he was getting his vision back, he realized his eyes were still seeing the very last image before they saw before the flash as if somehow the image was frozen in his brain. Slowly the image began to fade as his eyes began to return to normal. Kyle heard several gunshots, some fired by the guard, and other's coming from outside the room, probably from Foss.

Kyle blinked and squinted several times to get his eyes to see properly again. He saw Foss and Declan looking over him. "Kyle, are you alright? Have you been shot?" Foss asked concerned.

Kyle nodded. "I don't think it went the armor though," he said hopefully with his teeth clenched. It still hurt a lot. He rolled over on his stomach so Foss could check his back.

"You're okay," Foss said while patting the tough armor on his back. "Both of you are really lucky. Sometimes the bullets go right through," he said addressing both Kyle and Jessi who just walked in with Emily and seemed to be fine now.

"You know I saved your ass, right?" Declan said as he helped him up on his feet. "That guy was about to shoot you and I distracted him." He was feeling very excited that he had just contributed.

"Yes you did. Thanks," Kyle mumbled. He then spit some blood onto the floor from when the guard kicked him.

"Kyle, that's disgusting," Emily commented looking away. Kyle brought his hand up to his mouth and spit something else out and looked at it.

"It's a tooth," he said showing Declan. This was the first time he had ever lost a tooth in his life.

"Yeah. That's pretty hardcore man." Declan said.

"Don't worry Kyle," Jessi said. "You still have thirty one teeth left. Assuming that this is the first one you lost. And because it's only a baby tooth a new one will grow to replace it."

"You guys still have your baby teeth?" Declan asked laughing.

"All my teeth are baby teeth," Jessi told him. "We never used them before we came out of the pod remember?"

Emily began injecting all the wounded and unconscious guards with the sedative. Jessi looked at all of them and was very interested in how exactly Kyle defeated them. She didn't say anything but she was secretly competing with him to see who was more badass.

"Kyle if you don't mind, could I see the fight? Your memory I mean." Jessi asked.

Kyle sighed and smiled to himself. He knew Jessi well enough to know that she was competing with him even though he wasn't interested in such a competition. He didn't care who could fight better as long as they all got home alive. "Sure go ahead," he indulged her.

He felt Jessi's mind entering his and accessing his memories of the fight. She saw everything, including how the guard taunted him about Jessi and he broke his wrist and beat him excessively, so much that he didn't even hear the other guard get up. She looked shocked that Kyle, of all people, would react so violently just because the guard called her a bitch. _If I die, would Kyle resort to murder to avenge me? _Jessi wondered. That would completely mess up her plan. She didn't want Kyle to spend the rest of his running from the law or in jail. That fate was reserved for Cassidy.

"Kyle…incase something happens to me…promise me you won't kill anyone," she said slowly.

"What? Jessi please don't start this again."

"Just promise me!" Jessi snapped impatiently. "Give me your word!"

Kyle was taken aback. Did what he did scare her so much that she would actually think he would resort to…well would he? On one hand Kyle was confident that no matter what happened he would never kill anyone but on the other hand he knew that a couple of minutes ago he could have never predicted that his uncharacteristically brutal response to what that guard said. Right now he wanted to believe that he wouldn't kill but the truth was he had no way of knowing what he would do if Jessi got killed.

"Well?"

"Okay. I promise." Kyle said to her.

"By the way my fight was much more interesting than your fight," Jessi quipped.

"Well I'm sorry that it wasn't entertaining enough for you," Kyle said rolling his eyes. "Maybe I should have used a baton."

"Maybe you should have. Who told you not to use it? You have one don't you…"

While Kyle and Jessi were affectionately arguing, Foss was explaining to Declan about the screens. "Below each screen there's a number that tells you exactly which hallway the camera is in. And over here is a map of each floor with all the hallways and rooms numbered. Now because Kyle and Jessi memorized all these already they're going to tell you exactly where they are and you're going to use this map and these screens to scout ahead for them. You're also going to make sure no one sneaks up behind us. Think you can do that?" he asked handing Declan a radio to communicate to them with.

"Well, even if pod kids give me their exact location, it's still going to take a few seconds for me to find it on this map and then find the screen I'm looking for, out of all these screens, and…"

"Look, you're just going to have to do your best and work as fast as possible. Our lives depend on you. Got it?"

Declan gulped nervously and nodded. _Way to put pressure on me Foss_ he thought. "But what if more guards come in here? How am I gonna protect myself?"

Foss sighed and reluctantly picked up a gun from the floor belonging to one of the guards. "These are real bullets. If you absolutely have to shoot somebody you better shoot to kill. Got it? Because Emily won't be here to sedate them." Declan cautiously took the weapon from Foss's hand handling it very carefully as if it would suddenly go off and shoot somebody in the foot.

Emily finished up injecting the last guard with the sedative. "Alright guys, break's over, let's get out of here. We've stayed here way too long already."

"Wait there's just one thing," Jessi said. "I have to talk to Declan. Alone. Can you all please wait outside?"

Foss and Emily looked at her incredulously. "Jessi are you serious? Now? We have to get out of here _right now._" Emily said urgently.

"I'll make it quick. But please I need to talk to him. And Kyle, please don't listen in."

"Jessi you know I never do," Kyle said feeling very confused. Why did she want to talk to him alone, and _now _of all times? "But this isn't the time or the place for…"

"Kyle, please! I'll be out in a minute."

Kyle sighed and walked out with Emily and Foss behind him muttering to each other.

"Okay Jessi what the hell is this about?" Declan asked.

"Look I don't have time to explain this but I need a favor."

"A favor?" Declan repeated.

"You see those red buttons below each screen? That's how you record things. When I tell you to I need you to press that button in the screen that I'm in."

"You want to record yourself beating up people? Couldn't you have asked me that in front of everybody?" Declan asked cocking one eyebrow up in confusion.

"Well, can you do it? Please."

"Uh, yeah sure. Just tell me what screen to do it in and…yeah I guess I can do it."

"Thank you," Jessi said gratefully.

"So does this mean you're not mad at me anymore? Because you've been acting really weird all day…"

"I wasn't really that mad at you," Jessi confessed. "I was already upset about something else and I guess I sort of…vented on you…I'm sorry. It was really mean of me."

Declan didn't know what to say to that. This whole time he had been beating himself up over it, thinking he had really offended her…

"And…just incase we don't see each other again…" She hesitated a little bit then hugged him tightly. "It's been great knowing you. This whole month I really enjoyed your company."

Declan was surprised at first, he didn't expect Jessi to hug him all of a sudden. He awkwardly hugged her back. "Yeah this month was great, wasn't it? I just wish I'd gotten to know how awesome you were earlier, and I mean the real you, not some weird Madacorp programmed robot." He released her and looked at her seriously. "But we _will_ see each other again soon. Oh man, after we're done with all this, we're gonna get you and Kyle so drunk…" He laughed. "Just wait."

Jessi smiled warmly and nodded back without saying anything. She turned around and walked out of the room through the big hole where the door used to be. Ever since they first met, Declan could never fully understand her the way Kyle did. She was always acting strange. He couldn't feel her thoughts like Kyle but he had a suspicion that Jessi was hiding something from him. _Whatever, she's just a weird chick_ he thought dismissing it.

**I was actually going to put a lot more stuff in this chapter but then I saw that it was already nine pages so to get this chapter out sooner I'll just put all that in the next chapter. So basically Kyle's a good nonviolent type of guy but just like when he punched Cassidy in the finale for threatening his family, he has a breaking point and the thought that they almost killed Jessi pissed him off quite a bit. I hope it wasn't too out of character. A lot more action coming up. Next chapter they blow up all the pods and fight the organization that Foss used to be part off. Then they split up into groups. Also Declan is going to fight Nate. I hope you consider Nate important enough CptLatnok. Well let me know what you think. Once again if you think something's not right then PLEASE let me know because I want constructive criticism. **


	31. Chapter 31

**Okay here goes. I was actually done with this chapter much, much earlier but then the only computer in our house got a bunch of viruses and crashed mysteriously, and by mysteriously I mean my brother watches too much porn. Anyways we were able to get it fixed but everything, all my songs, my pictures, and of course this chapter was erased. So…I had to re write this whole entire chapter all over again.**

Kyle, Emily, and Foss were impatiently waiting for Jessi to finish talking to Declan and come out. Kyle couldn't help but wonder what was so important that Jessi just had to talk to him at the last minute. And he couldn't help but wonder why Jessi told him not to listen in. He wasn't the type of person who would do that anyway but now that she had specifically told him not to, it was very tempting. Still, Kyle was Kyle, and he honored his word.

It bothered him that Jessi was still keeping secrets from him when he didn't keep anything from her. Since their minds were telepathically linked he would just let her enter his mind and see all his thoughts and memories. Sometimes she would do it without his permission and he still never really got mad. He liked having someone that he had nothing to hide from. Jessi was his soul mate. So it kind of bothered him that Jessi didn't see him the same way since she was still hiding stuff from him. It also bothered him that she was more comfortable talking to Declan about her secret than with him when he knew her better than anyone else. Yes there was some girl stuff that Jessi would rather discuss with Lori than with him, he could understand that, but Declan? What the hell could she possibly prefer talking to Declan about than with him?

Emily and Foss were getting more and more frustrated with each passing second. Staying here in once place was dangerous. Right now, they knew, security was combing the whole building looking for them. By taking out the security control room they made it a lot harder for the guards to find them but by waiting in this one spot it was only making it easier.

"I don't know why she couldn't talk to him while you were sedating all the guards," Foss muttered sounding aggregated.

"She's probably just apologizing for being a bitch to him earlier," Emily reasoned. "Who gets mad over such a simple thing? But wasn't it hilarious how she almost threw him into the car?" she said sniggering. Foss was about to respond to her but he was cut off by Kyle.

"Don't ever call her that!" Kyle said fiercely. Emily and Foss looked at him confused. "Jessi is _not_ a…a…" Kyle couldn't bring himself to say it. Emily immediately looked apologetic.

"Kyle, I'm so sorry. I didn't say Jessi _was_ a bitch. I was just saying Jessi overreacted and acted a little mean to your friend," she tried to explain.

"But isn't that word always used in an insulting context except when used to specify the gender of a dog?" Kyle asked.

"Well…you know what…you're right. I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." Emily said giving in.

"Kyle, maybe you should call her out. Telepathically, of course. Don't yell." Foss said.

Kyle was about to do it when Jessi came out of the room. She saw everybody looking at her with ticked off expressions. "What? I was only in there for one minute and fifty eight seconds," she said defensively.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Whatever, let's just go."

They made their way back to the stairs. This time Foss and Emily led the way because Kyle's and Jessi's armor had already taken hits and the adults didn't want them to take any more needless risks. So no more hand to hand unless it was absolutely necessary. If the guards could be taken care of by shooting them from several feet away then that's how they were going to do it, Foss decided. As they walked through the hallways Kyle couldn't resist the temptation to ask Jessi.

"What did you guys talk about?" he casually inquired.

Jessi tried to brush the question aside by answering, "Nothing much. Don't worry about it." She didn't seem to want to talk about it. But Kyle wasn't going to let this go so easily.

"If it's nothing important then why did you tell me not to listen?" he asked persistently.

Jessi looked at Kyle with a puzzled expression. She never knew him to be so nosy before. Usually he was very respectful of other people's privacy. Why did he even care what they talked about unless…unless he listened in on them and already knew what she said and was just trying to get her to tell him herself!

"Kyle, did you listen to us talk?" Jessi asked. If he did, then he could easily put the pieces together and figure out what her plan was. Kyle heard her heart beat racing and felt her temperature rise.

"No I didn't," he honestly replied. He really wanted to but he didn't break his word. "But I was hoping that you would tell me."

Jessi carefully studied him to see if he was lying. He could lie to her if he really wanted to by keeping his heartbeat relaxed. Just like she was able to lie to him about how she brought him back from Cassidy when he was kidnapped. But she knew Kyle and he would never lie to her. They already promised each other that they would never lie to each other ever again and Jessi had so far not broken that promise so she found it extremely unlikely that Kyle would break it. She felt relieved.

"Kyle, that was a private conversation between me and Declan. It's not your business," she said trying to sound as nice as possible.

Kyle silently nodded and didn't pursue it any further. The four of them began walking down the stairs to the lowest floor while being very alert and as quiet as possible. Declan was able to see them thanks to all the cameras and he traced their path on a map of the floor he had in front of him. He looked at all the cameras in front of them to see if their path was clear. All of a sudden Jessi broke the silence by loudly bursting out, "Kyle, why are you feeling jealous?!"

Kyle's face turned red with embarrassment. "No! I'm not!" he said in obvious denial but it was pointless to argue with someone who could sense your emotions. And Jessi definitely knew what jealousy felt like.

"Yes you are. Kyle, haven't we been over this before? Why do you continue to think that when I already…" she stopped talking when she saw Emily and Foss glaring at them. Kyle and Jessi both awkwardly looked down waiting for the adults to say something.

"Are you guys done? Are you sure you don't want to just stay here and keep talking?" Foss asked sarcastically. "Because I'm not trying to rush you; by all means, take your time. I mean this discussion obviously takes priority over our mission, and if any guards hear you arguing and come over here to kill us I'll just explain the situation to them. I'm sure they'll understand and leave us alone."

Kyle and Jessi looked embarrassed. "We're done," they both said simultaneously.

"Really? You're sure about that? Then shut the hell up and focus on the mission. You can talk about your damn relationship problems on the way back home." Both the teenagers silently nodded. Foss turned around and continued walking down the stairs. Emily shook her head at both of them before turning around and following him. Kyle and Jessi decided to continue the conversation telepathically.

_Jessi I know that you and Declan are only friends but I guess I felt a little jealous that you were more comfortable talking to him about something rather than me. _Kyle explained. _I'm sorry for feeling that way._

_But it's not like that at all._ Jessi responded._ I just needed a favor from him. Look if it makes you feel better you'll know all about it in just a few hours._

But she knew it wouldn't make him feel better at all. It would devastate him, kill him emotionally. Doing this to him after he had chosen her over Amanda, after he had fallen in love with her, was so cruel and selfish. He didn't deserve to be an innocent victim in her plan. This was the first time she seriously thought about the suffering she would bring on him and the rest of the family if her plan went through successfully. Was getting revenge on Cassidy worth that much?

They reached the bottom of the stairs. Before Foss opened the door he contacted Declan on his radio. "Declan. Are we clear?" he asked.

Declan's voice crackled over the radio, "I'm uh, looking for the screen right now. You're about to go into hallway 12B so…well here's 11B…where the hell is 12B…"

"Declan you need to be faster than that," Foss said impatiently.

"Okay, here it is. 12B. And it is…_not _clear!" Declan said, his voice suddenly getting excited. "I'm counting like…ten guards…there's probably more I can't see on camera, and they all have their guns pointed towards that door to the stairs. It looks like they're just waiting for you to come out man. What are you guys going to do?"

"Great," Foss muttered. He turned to Kyle and Jessi for a solution.

Jessi got an idea immediately. "You know how they were able to lock us in here earlier? Well maybe Declan can use that computer they have in the room to turn off all the lights. We'd turn off the lights in here first and then in the hallway to make it completely dark for them. Then Kyle and I can fight them hand to hand just like I did in the casino."

Kyle nodded approvingly. "That's a good idea," he said.

Foss agreed. He got back on the radio with Declan. "Hey, Declan, you know that computer that's in your room? Go on it," he said. He hoped that it wasn't damaged in the fight with Kyle. Declan did as he was told.

"Okay now what?" he asked.

"I need you to shut down the lights in this stairwell and the hallway outside. We need to make it as dark as possible for those guards."

"Right…how the hell am I supposed to do that?" Declan asked. Foss had no idea. Lucky for him Emily knew a thing or two about Madacorp computers.

She pulled out her own radio. "Kid, listen. I used to be the Madacorp CEO so I have somewhat of an idea how these security systems work. I'll try to walk you through it. Why don't you describe what the screen looks like right now and I'll tell you what to do from there."

While Declan described the screen to Emily, Foss turned to Kyle and Jessi and said, "You two need to be careful. Those guards might not be able to see you but they can still hit you by accident. I'll try to make sure that none of them are pointing their weapons towards you."

"But how will you be able to see anything at all?" Kyle asked.

"What did you think this was for?" Foss replied pointing to a device he was wearing on his head.

"Well, I'm assuming that's some kind of night vision equipment," Kyle guessed.

"That's right. I thought I might need it after Jessi used this same tactic when we broke into that casino." Foss said.

"…so why don't you go ahead and click on that," Emily was telling Declan.

Two seconds later the lights above them went out and the stairwell was pitch black. Foss and Emily couldn't see a thing but Foss had his hand on the door handle. With his other hand he lowered the night vision goggles over his eyes. Everything once again became visible to him but in a shade of green and he saw Kyle and Jessi looking at him.

"Can you guys see me clearly?" he asked. They could see him but they couldn't hear anything since the way this ability worked was that they could boost one sense at the expense of all the others. But luckily they could read his lips.

"Yes," the two of them said confidently. Jessi had her baton in her hand.

"Okay good work kid. Now do the same exact thing for hallway 12 B and any intersecting hallways that might still give them light." Emily said.

Declan continued to work on the computer. Now that he got a basic understanding of how to navigate it he worked much faster. "Okay…hang on…done," he said. He looked at the screen for 12 B and saw that it was pitch black. He switched the camera to night vision and saw all the guards looking scared and panicking. "Yeah those guys are definitely blind. You're good to go. Good luck Kyle and Jessi. Don't be too loud in opening the door or they might still hear you."

Foss quietly opened the door for them. Kyle and Jessi rushed past him into the hallway. Emily was just as blind as the guards and had no idea what was going on but she heard shouts of surprise and confusion, followed by the sound of fists smacking skin and flesh, accompanied by grunts of pain and the dull thud of bodies hitting the floor. Several gunshots rang out as the guards began panicking and wildly shooting all over the place. It was quite stupid considering they were all packed into a narrow hallway and could have easily shot one another. She then heard Foss fire a few rubber bullets at a guard who just happened to be pointing his weapon in the direction of Kyle without knowing it. After a few seconds of all that noise, everything went quiet. "Foss, Emily, you can come out now," she heard Kyle's voice saying.

"Alright kid, why don't you go ahead and turn the lights back on," Emily said to Declan over the radio as Foss took of his night vision goggles.

"Holy crap, that was freaking awesome!" Declan's voice excitedly replied. "I saw the whole fight on camera!" A few clicks on his computer and the lights came back on. Emily saw twelve unconscious bodies on the floor outside the stairwell. Kyle and Jessi were standing over them without even a scratch. Emily was impressed.

"Good job guys," she praised them and immediately went to work injecting the guards with the sedative.

"Declan, lock this door so that no one can sneak up behind us," Foss told him.

Once Emily and Declan were done they all resumed walking down hallway and made a turn. They didn't have to walk very far because at the end of the hall was a large heavily armored door that looked like a vault in a bank. Written on it in bold red letters was AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY and on the side of it, there were keys with numbers on them showing that it was only accessible by code.

Kyle was expecting this. Mark had told him all about this door and the seven digit security code for entering through. The only problem was that he didn't know if the code still worked. The plan was that they'd sneak all the way up to here without anyone even knowing they were in the building. Now that they had been detected, Cassidy would have changed the code. He punched in the seven digit code exactly as Mark had told him. Unfortunately his suspicions were correct. The code was no longer valid.

He sighed. "It's no good," he told the others. "They changed the code. Maybe Declan can open it."

"Declan we need you to open this door for us," Foss said over the radio.

Declan watched on camera as they all stood next to the door. He looked through the computer for that option but didn't find it. He then looked at a map of the floor. All the maps of the various floors had everything labeled with a number. Every hallway, room, staircase, elevator, etc. was labeled. But on this floor the only thing that was indentified was the short hallway that they just ran through. It stopped at the door. Everything beyond that door was grayed out. "Hey Kyle, what's beyond that door?" he asked.

"According to the data I memorized, there are two large rooms labeled Storage 8 and Storage 9," Kyle answered. "But why are you asking me? Don't you have a map up there?"

Declan looked for their screens labeled Storage 8 or 9 but couldn't find anything. "Nah bro," he told Kyle. "They're not on the computer or the map. And I can't find any screens labeled Storage 8 or 9. What's up with that?"

"That actually makes sense," Emily said. "If this is where they're doing the experiment then of course they don't want anyone to know about it, not even their own security."

"So then we blast our way through again?" Kyle asked.

"It won't work." Foss told them. "This door is too heavily armored for that type of explosive to work."

"Well don't you have something bigger?" Emily asked.

"I do. But I'm saving it for when we destroy the pods."

Kyle and Jessi looked around for another way in. Kyle spotted the AC vent on the ceiling. He got an idea. "Hey, that vent looks big enough for us to fit through. We could try to crawl through the AC ducts."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Emily said incredulously. "That's stupid. Not one of your better ideas."

"Why not, Emily?" Jessi asked. "How is it stupid? You see people doing it on T.V. all the time."

"Jessi, I'm not going in there," Emily said defiantly. "Who knows what kinds of things live in there…" she added.

"Oh so that's what this is about," Jessi said rolling her eyes. She turned to the others and explained. "She's afraid of bugs. Especially spiders."

"I'm not afraid!" Emily snapped. "I just find them disgusting, but they don't scare me!"

"Yeah you definitely don't sound scared," Jessi said sarcastically. "Look, unfortunately we don't have any other options. We need your help so you have to go in there with us."

Kyle began concentrating on the screws holding up the vent cover and they slowly began turning counterclockwise, unscrewing themselves. "Come on guys, look at how small that is!" Emily was saying desperately. "We won't even be able to fit in there!"

"Don't worry we'll fit," Foss said confidently. Declan sighed and watched as they all talked and felt left out. He was glad to contribute from here but now his help had come to an end. Once they went through that door they would be on their own and he would just have to sit up here and wait for them to come out. He heard Foss's voice over the radio saying, "Declan, we're going to go in through the vents. We need you to disable the building's AC. Try not to get caught while we're gone."

"Yeah sure Foss," he replied in an unenthusiastic tone. "I sure wish I was down there with you guys though." Jessi knew how Declan was feeling. She felt bad for him but it was a good idea to leave him behind in the room where he could still contribute without nearly as much risk. She had an idea of how he could still help out.

One by one Kyle pulled out all the screws until there was nothing to hold it up and it fell freely onto the floor. Kyle turned to the others and said, "I'll go in first. Jessi will help the two of you get up there after me and she'll come in last." Foss and Jessi nodded. Emily was too nervous to say anything. Kyle effortlessly jumped up and pulled himself up into the air ducts.

"Kid's like a monkey," Emily remarked. Foss was next. He stood right under the vent. Jessi concentrated on him and slowly he began floating up into the air. Once he was high enough he was able to climb inside. Jessi looked at Emily waiting for her to stand under the vent.

"Do you think there's anything in there?" she nervously asked.

Jessi shrugged. "I don't know. There could be. But so what? Bugs are so small, what could they possibly do to you?"

"They could bite," Emily answered. "Some of these spiders are poisonous you know."

"Okay, if you get bit by a poisonous spider I promise I'll heal you. You'll be fine."

"But it'll still hurt though."

"Emily! There's a chance we could get shot and die and you're worried about a small bug bite? Get up there now!" Jessi snapped impatiently.

With a click of his mouse Declan turned off the AC. He watched on screen as Jessi lifted up a very reluctant Emily though the vents. She pulled out her radio and contacted Declan. "Declan, I'm sorry you can't come with us. But you can still help us by finding Cassidy for us. Once we're done here we're going after him. He's obviously going to try and escape from here so try and prevent that. See if you can trap him somehow with that computer," she said.

"Well…see the thing is…I can't see the whole building from this room. It only shows the cameras on the ground floor and everything below. If he's somewhere up near the top I can't see him." Declan said.

"Well he has to come to the ground floor to escape right?" Jessi responded optimistically. "Unless he already did which I really hope he didn't."

"Alright I'll do my best to find him." Declan said uncertainly. "You guys be careful in there. Good luck."

"Good luck in finding Cassidy," Jessi said back. "Don't let anyone sneak up on you," she said repeating Foss.

Declan then began the long and boring task of finding Cassidy in one of the screens in front of him. He thought it was kind of pointless and wasn't expecting anything but was only doing it because he told Jessi he would. They'd been in here for about thirty minutes and Cassidy was probably long gone by now. One by one he looked through the fifty small screens in front of him.

Meanwhile, Kyle, Foss, Emily, and Jessi uncomfortably struggled to crawl through the very cramped space of the AC ducts.

"Emily, move your fat ass!" Jessi whispered.

"What?! Okay first of all, I _know _I'm not fat, and second I can't move any faster than the people in front of me so shut your mouth or I'll kick you in the face!" Emily whispered back.

"Don't take it personally, Emily," Kyle whispered from the front. "Jessi's just repeating a phrase she probably heard on T.V. or from my brother Josh. Sometimes she tries so hard to talk and act like everyone else it just seems really contrived."

"Yeah no kidding," Emily muttered.

"What's that sound?" Jessi asked.

"It sounds like some weird gurgling noise, some kind of liquid…" Kyle guessed.

"But do you hear any people?" Foss asked them. "Voices or footsteps or anything like that?"

Kyle and Jessi concentrated on enhancing their hearing while Foss and Emily stayed quiet. After a while they just shook their heads. "Kyle I don't know about you but I can't even hear a heartbeat down there," Jessi said.

"Me neither. I think it's safe." Kyle agreed. He crawled a little bit forward until he was right next to a vent. He began using his abilities to unscrew it just like the first one. Once it was off, he then put his head down and looked all around the room. "Wow," he gasped.

"What is it?" Foss asked. Kyle didn't answer. Instead he just jumped down into the room.

The others followed. Once they were all down they all looked around them in amazement. "This is definitely not a storage room," Emily said in awe. They were all standing on a catwalk overlooking the room which was several feet below them. It was huge, like a warehouse and dimly lit. There were these strange machines with transparent tubes coming out of them. Inside the transparent tubes was a very familiar looking pinkish orange fluid. It was coming out of the machines and going into large storage tanks located all over the room. It made a gurgling noise as it moved through the tubes.

"What is that stuff?" Emily asked.

"It's the bio-fluid that's used to nourish somebody growing in a pod," Jessi explained to her as they walked down the stairs. "This must be where they manufacture it." She felt guilty. She was the one who gave Cassidy the formula. Because of her he was able to make vast quantities of this fluid.

"We should have bought some _Staphylococcus aureus _with usso we could contaminate all this fluid just like I did last time," Kyle told Jessi.

"Um…you should have bought some what?" Emily asked.

"It's some kind of bacteria that they used last time to…"

"Shhh!" Jessi suddenly interrupted Foss. Her eyes were wide open and very alert. Emily and Foss immediately stopped talking and froze in their tracks. The four of them just stood there in complete silence without moving for several seconds.

"Jessi, what is it?" Foss asked quietly.

"I thought I heard something but maybe…"

"I heard it too," Kyle whispered.

"Both of you enhance your hearing," Foss told them. He didn't have to tell them they already began doing it before he even said anything.

"Kyle," Jessi quietly whispered. "Do you hear that?"

Kyle nodded. "Heartbeats," he said. Unfortunately because their hearing was so enhanced all their other senses, like their vision was significantly blurred, which is why they didn't see the red dot of a laser sight on Emily's head. Foss saw it at the last minute.

"Emily duck!" he yelled. Emily immediately lowered her head and before she even heard a gunshot she heard the bullet whiz right above her head. All of a sudden there was another gunshot and Emily was knocked onto the floor.

She screamed in pain. "Get to cover!" Foss yelled. Kyle and Jessi grabbed Emily and dragged her behind one of the machines while Foss pulled out his flash grenade and dropped in on the floor before following them. A second later there was a blinding flash of light that caused the shooter to stop shooting at them momentarily allowing them to get to cover.

Kyle and Jessi immediately assessed Emily's situation. "Oh no! It went through the armor! There's blood everywhere!" Jessi said frantically.

"Emily don't worry we'll heal you!" Kyle said.

"No! Eliminate the threat first otherwise they'll kill you while you're trying to heal her!" Foss said. "I'll keep her alive until then." He handed Kyle his mirror.

Kyle carefully held it out to look. "There are several of them on a catwalk. They're wearing some kind of…armor…and helmets…who are these guys?"

"They're Latnok's body guards I told you about. Grace Kingsley must have sent them," Foss said.

Just then they all heard sounds of machine gun fire and bullets bouncing off the machine they were hiding behind. Kyle heard several bullets fly right next to his hand and one of them hit the mirror and shattered it. He quickly pulled his hand back. "We can't move from here!" he yelled to Foss over the noise.

Foss realized what their plan was. "They're keeping us pinned down over here so they can send some guys to come up either side and shoot us!" he yelled to Kyle. "We have to move from here."

"Kyle, let's burn out all the lights!" Jessi suggested.

Both of them began concentrating really hard to significantly increase the voltage in all the lights in the room. It was a very big room so even with the two of them combined it was a lot of work. Blood began trickling down their nose as their brains were overworked. But slowly the lights began getting brighter and brighter. Then, finally when the lights could not take any more voltage they exploded sending sparks flying everywhere and the room became completely dark. Foss pulled his night vision goggles down over his eyes. But the fire did not stop. The guard's kept shooting, not randomly like the Madacorp guards did in the dark, but accurately aiming towards the same spot.

"They must have their own night vision goggles," Foss realized.

"Wait a minute, that's it!" Kyle said excitedly. "The way night vision works is by magnifying light. That's why you're not supposed to look at anything bright with them."

Jessi realized where he was going with this. "The flash grenades!" she exclaimed.

"Foss, I need all your remaining flash grenades," Kyle said.

Foss took off his belt that was carrying them and handed it to Kyle. "Here, take them all." Kyle caused the belt to float into the air where it was visible to the guards. With Foss's instructions Kyle activated the grenades one after the other and quickly closed his eyes. The grenades went off producing incredibly bright flashes of light one by one and it looked like one long flash. Since the enemy was wearing night vision goggles this brightness was significantly increased to them. They were forced to stop firing. Kyle and Jessi didn't hesitate. They both ran towards the catwalk that the guards were standing on as fast as they could. Once they were under it they both jumped up onto it on opposite ends. From there they began fighting the guards hand to hand.

Kyle landed on the catwalk right next to a guard. The guard was still blind from the flash and had no idea that Kyle was right next to him. Kyle quickly grabbed him and threw him off the catwalk several feet below. The man on his right heard him yelling as he fell down and turned around to face Kyle. Kyle quickly punched him in the stomach to knock the wind out but instead he felt his fist hit something hard. The guard staggered backwards from the force but wasn't winded at all. Like Kyle, he was wearing body armor that could stop a bullet so a punch was nothing serious. He quickly pointed his assault rifle at Kyle but Kyle grabbed the barrel and pushed it away from him causing him to fire off several bullets harmlessly to the side. He then yanked the barrel causing the man to stumble towards him. Kyle then punched the guy in the face as hard as he could but ended up breaking his own hand on the guard's night vision goggles he was wearing over his face. Still the force of the punch knocked the guard backwards onto the floor.

_Ouch! _Kyle thought wincing in pain from his hand. But the guard wasn't hurt from the punch at all thanks to his face shield. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Kyle but Kyle reacted quickly and kicked it to the side and stomped on the guard's face as hard as he could. His foot crushed night vision goggle's and caused the face shield to collapse onto the guard's face crushing it. Kyle stepped over his body and moved on to the next guard.

By now their vision was beginning to return. The third guard pointed his rifle at Kyle but Kyle grabbed it and yanked it hard, right out of his hands. He then slammed the butt of the rifle into the guard's face shield shattering right through it. He wasn't going to make the mistake of punching them in the face again. The fourth guard already had his weapon pointed at Kyle before the third one even fell down. He was too far away for Kyle to grab it. All of a sudden the guard felt himself being pushed onto the floor by some invisible force. Kyle immediately ran on top of him, raised his weapon into the air and brought it down onto the guard's face. But the guard used his own weapon to block it. He then kicked Kyle in the stomach causing him to stumble back. He pointed his weapon at Kyle about to shoot when the weapon suddenly pointed itself upwards and flew out of his hands into the air. Kyle ran forward and kicked him in the face causing the face shield to collapse into the guard's face.

Meanwhile Jessi landed on the catwalk at the same time as Kyle but at the other end. Like Kyle she grabbed the first guard and threw him off the catwalk. Before the second guard could do anything she cracked him on the head with her baton. It knocked him down from the force but he wasn't hurt that bad because of his helmet. He tried to get back up but Jessi grabbed his head and kneed him three times in the face. On the third time she broke through the face shield. Just as the third guard turned around to face her she punched him in the stomach but like Kyle, she discovered that they were wearing body armor. No problem. She began lashing out with her baton at all the places that weren't protected especially their elbows and knees, which she discovered could be quite painful to the guards. Sometimes she'd just hit them in the face with the baton so hard the face shield would collapse in and crush their face. With the baton she had a much easier time fighting them than Kyle. Jessi and Kyle fought their way across the catwalk making their way to the middle where they finally met up. Jessi raised her baton about to strike and Kyle was about to slam her in the face with the butt of the weapon he took from the guard when they both realized they were looking at each other. They looked behind them and saw that all the guards were incapacitated. Both of them immediately jumped off the catwalk and ran back to Foss and Emily.

Elsewhere in the building Cassidy and Grace hurriedly ran through the hallways and headed into an elevator. Once they were in Cassidy punched in the button for his floor. The doors closed and the elevator slowly began ascending up. He had to get his data off his computer as fast as he could and then get the hell out of here. All of a sudden the elevator lurched to a stop in between floors. The lights inside it also went off. "What the bloody hell?" Cassidy wondered out loud. He kept pressing the buttons but elevator was completely disabled.

"Michael, what's going on?" Grace asked frightened. Neither of them paid attention to the camera in the elevator that was watching them.

Declan laughed out loud at their predicament. He was really starting to enjoy the feeling of power in this control room. He wasn't expecting to find Cassidy at all but not only did he find him he practically had him gift wrapped for Jessi when she came back. And that older woman who was with him, that had to be his mother, who was also Kyle's mother. Declan couldn't believe how lucky he was. He watched Cassidy pull out his cellphone and call somebody. That's when he heard a cellphone ring directly behind him. _SHIT! What do I do now?_

Declan quickly wheeled around and threw a punch towards whoever it was but Nate easily moved his head to the side, dodging it, grabbed his hand and before Declan even knew what happened he was lying on the floor in pain. Nate laughed loudly. Declan looked up at him and saw who it was. "Oh, it's just you," he said rolling his eyes. "I thought it was someone actually threatening."

Nate cocked one eyebrow up. "Oh really?" he said amused. He took a step back allowing Declan to get back on his feet. Declan didn't complain. He immediately got up.

"I'm going to enjoy beating the shit out of you, asshole" he growled and threw several more punches which Nate effortlessly blocked, while laughing, and counter attacked with his own lightning fast punch that once again sent Declan sprawling on the floor with his head spinning. Nate seemed to be having a lot of fun.

"Oh come on, dipshit. Is that the best you could do?" he mocked. "Come on, hit me just one time!"

Declan was now pretty pissed off. He jumped back to his feet and tried to charge Nate and tackle him but Nate was too quick. He kicked him in shin causing him to fall forward with his own momentum, his face landing into Nate's uppercut. Before he could fall again, Nate caught him and held him steady before backing up. "Let me guess, you thought that just because I'm a genius I would be like Mark and the rest of those nerds. Wrong, pal. I happen to be a black belt in four different martial arts."

Declan did underestimate him thinking he would be just like Mark. And now his head was throbbing and his nose was bleeding. He lunged at Nate with another punch but Nate just dropped to the floor and swept his legs out from under him causing him to fall yet again. "Jesus you're fucking pathetic," Nate said shaking his head in disgust. "Why the hell did they agree to bring your sorry ass along?"

Declan tried to get back up but Nate was bored with him. He delivered a solid roundhouse to his head knocking him unconscious. He then answered his phone which was ringing the whole time. "Yo. Stuck in the elevator?" he asked while looking at Cassidy through the small screen.

"How do you know?" Cassidy asked enraged.

"I'm in the security's control room and I'm looking at you right now. You know Kyle's friend that Jackie was going out with? He's the one who shut down the elevator from here. Don't worry though. I took care of him." Nate told him. He sat down on the computer and reactivated he elevator.

Cassidy looked directly at the camera. "Wait, so you have his friend alive?" he asked.

"Kid can't even fight. I don't know why they let him come along." Nate said smirking.

"Mate, that's brilliant. We can use him as leverage against them." Cassidy said with a devious smile.

"I just beat up ten guys," Jessi bragged after they were done healing Emily. "You?"

"Seven," Kyle answered. Aside from his hand which was swollen, he had a bloody lip and what would soon become a black eye.

"That's it?" Jessi teased playfully. "And it look's like they gave you some trouble," she added giggling.

"I think I fractured my hand. I was distracted by the pain," Kyle told her. "It hurts a lot. Too bad we can't heal broken bones."

Jessi smiled and continued to tease him. "Stop making excuses and just admit it. I'm more advanced than you. That's why I was created after you. I'm an improvement. That's why I was smart enough to use a baton instead of breaking my hand on their gear."

Kyle was about to respond when they heard a very familiar voice on the radio. A voice they hadn't heard in a while. A voice that evoked strong feelings of anger and hatred in both of them. "Kyle? Jessi? You there?" it called in an English accent.

They both looked at each other shocked. They both wondered how he got on this frequency. Kyle picked up the radio and answered it. "Cassidy. What do you want?" he asked.

"Ah, little brother! It's been far too long since I've heard from you! So tell me, how are things? By the way, are you now with Jessi or Amanda?" he asked sarcastically pretending to be interested. "It's probably Jessi isn't it? She's a bit of a psychopathic bitch but really who cares about that when she's _very _good looking and a lot more…shall we say, developed, than Amanda."

Kyle felt the rage boil up inside of him. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to talk about all that once we're done destroying your laboratory and Jessi had her hand around your throat," he growled.

"I have a better idea," Cassidy said. "Instead of making me wait that long, why don't you both come see me right now? I've already had the pleasure of meeting your friend."

Kyle and Jessi looked terrified. So that's how he was able to talk to them on the radio. He was using Declan's. "What did you do to him?" Kyle demanded.

"Well I didn't do anything mate. He was already unconscious by the time I saw him. He's still alive. Although that could change if you don't turn yourselves over to security."

Kyle and Jessi looked at each other fearfully. "What do we do now?" Jessi asked.

"I'll go back for him," Kyle declared. "You continue with the mission."

"No!" Foss said. "You can't. You both aren't nearly as effective by yourselves as you are working together. You'll be killed."

"He'll kill Declan!" Kyle protested.

"He'll kill him anyway after he kills you," Cassidy said darkly. "Declan knew what he was getting into. I talked to him about all the risks and he still agreed to come along. We can't jeopardize the mission for him otherwise his sacrifice will be for nothing!"

"No! He's my best friend!" Kyle shouted.

"I know. That's why you need to do what he would want you to do and finish the mission. He wouldn't want you to save him!"

Foss's words triggered a holographic memory. Kyle remembered a scene exactly as it happened several weeks ago. He saw himself standing in Jessi's room with Jessi and the rest of the family. Jessi was in tears.

"_He would have killed you, you idiot!" Jessi shouted back. She was crying now._

"_So? I would have been fine with that Jessi you know that!"_

"_But we wouldn't," Steven said. Kyle turned around and noticed his parents standing there for the first time. "And you have no right to yell at her like that, Kyle, when anyone including you would have done the same thing in her place." They both stood beside Jessi and put their hands on her shoulder to show their support for her._

_Lori agreed with them. "Yeah, Kyle, look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing if me, or Josh, or Amanda had been kidnapped."_

_Kyle wanted to deny it but he couldn't. He loved his family so much he would do anything to bring them back home safely. Even give Cassidy the information in his head and not just the formula for the fluid. All the information if it meant his family could come home unharmed. "I…I…would do the same thing…" he admitted, "but there's a difference!" he said desperately._

"_Oh really what's the difference Kyle? Is your life worth less than ours?" Nicole asked him._

"_No but I would have wanted to die to prevent Cassidy from getting that information," Kyle tried to explain to her._

"_Dude we don't care what you would have wanted," Josh said also defending Jessi. "If I could kick ass like Jessi I would have saved you whether you liked it or not. You really don't have a choice in the matter Kyle."_

"It doesn't matter what Declan wants," Kyle said as he came back to the real world. "I'm going to save him no matter what. You guys can continue onwards without me. There's only one more room left anyway. It shouldn't be that difficult for the three of you." With that he began running back the way he came.

"Wait!" Foss shouted. "Okay fine! I'll go with you. Jessi and Emily can take care of the pods."

"You can't." Emily told him. She was healed to the point where she would live but the wound still hurt like hell. "We don't know how those explosives work. Only you do. Why don't I go with Kyle and you go with Jessi?"

Foss was reluctant about it. He knew that Kyle was heading right into a trap and wasn't sure that Emily could protect him well enough. But she was right. He had to go with Jessi because only he knew how to destroy those pods.

"Okay fine. Kyle…good luck," he said.

**Declan's not out of the fight yet. He's still gonna beat Nate I just wanted to make Nate look like a really tough opponent. Also I decided to pair Foss with Jessi because I forgot that he's the only one who knows how all those bombs work. I didn't want Kyle and Jessi to seem invincible so I broke Kyle's hand and gave him a few bruises. Jessi will get some of her own injuries later. Let me know what you think**


	32. Chapter 32

**Okay here's the deal. I'm going to make Kyle to kill somebody out of self defense but I'm worried that it will be too out of character and I want all my characters to be the same people they were when the show ended. So if you guys can't picture that scene happening like that then you gotta let me know so I can rewrite the scene to make him defeat them without killing them. You gotta tell me though otherwise I won't know.**

After Kyle and Emily left, leaving their packs containing the bombs behind, Jessi and Foss stealthily made their way to the end of the large room which was still completely dark because Jessi and Kyle had destroyed the lights. They kept their eyes and ears open for any guards that they might have missed. After walking all the way to the end of the room they reached a door that led to the last remaining room on this floor. This was undoubtedly where the pods were. This door didn't look nearly as tough and durable as the one they had bypassed by sneaking through the vents.

"You think we can blast through this?" Jessi asked.

"Absolutely," Foss said. He set his pack down and began opening it to take out the explosives. "Jessi, they'll be waiting for us. Don't just charge in there like last time," he warned her.

Jessi nodded. "Yeah Tom, I think I learned my lesson after being shot," she said. He was surprised that she called him Tom. The only other person to call him Tom was Emily.

Foss was about to attach the explosives to the door when all of a sudden someone on the other side opened it. Because Foss was wearing night vision, the light from the next room seemed blinding to him and he had to shield his eyes. Jessi immediately went into a fighting stance with the baton in her hand ready to attack whoever opened the door. "Mark? Is that you?" she said squinting as her eyes began adjusting to normal light.

Mark sighed in relief and laughed. "Hell yeah Jessi, of course it's me. Congratulations guys, you made it all the way down here. We were worried those Latnok guys outside might have been too much for even you. We heard a lot of gunshots."

Foss took off his night vision and looked at him. "Is there anyone else in there?" he asked.

Mark nodded. "Yeah, it's me and all the other lab technicians," he said.

"He means are there any more guards," Jessi said. She was still in her fighting stance ready to attack in case a guard came up behind Mark.

"Oh. No man, all of Cassidy's guys were out there waiting for you." Mark replied. "There were seventeen of them; I actually counted so you could be sure you got them all. How many did you get?" he asked.

Jessi looked at Foss and said, "Well, Kyle and I did take care of seventeen guards total but I'm still reluctant to just walk in there," she then turned back to Mark and said, "But from your relatively constant metabolism you seem to be telling the truth." She relaxed and put her hands down.

Mark stared at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Jessi, of course I'm telling you the truth, I'm on your side here. I'm the one who helped you guys break into this place remember? Now come on let's blow this lab up already!" He grabbed their hands and pulled them into the room.

As soon as they were in they were greeted by a crowd of people that immediately started cheering and applauding loudly. Jackie came running out of the crowd and hugged Foss and kissed him on the cheek. She then turned to Jessi much more awkwardly and said, "Hey, glad to see you made it." Jessi and Foss just stood there completely stunned by everyone's reaction to them. Obviously Mark had told everybody about their plan. Jessi recognized everybody there from the Latnok program back at UW.

"So you people are all just college students?" Foss asked amazed at how young everyone there was. He knew they were all genius prodigies but still he was amazed that they were able to do in weeks what took the scientists in Zyzzyx months to accomplish. They managed to create more than one hundred replicas of the pod that Cassidy retrieved from Zyzzyx and they were probably responsible for inventing the machines in the earlier room that were making all the bio-fluid. No wonder Latnok was looking to add them to its ranks.

Mark nodded and said, "Yeah man. Like I said before, Cassidy threatened to kill our families if we didn't help him. I guess we were the most qualified people for the job too since we all helped him rebuild that first pod without realizing it."

"Why do you think we're all so glad to see you?" another UW student said smiling gratefully. "We never wanted to get involved in any of this cloning crap."

Mark looked around in the room behind them. He turned around looking confused. "So, are you two it? Where's Kyle?"

"He had to go back to save Declan," Jessi told him. "Emily went with him."

Jackie stopped smiling and her face went white. "Wait, Declan's in trouble? What happened?" she asked sounding very concerned. Even though she broke up with him she still cared about him.

At first Jessi scowled at her. _Declan can get a much better girl than her _she thought. She was still mad at Jackie for slapping her earlier that day. But she heard the distress in her voice and she felt slightly sympathetic. _Maybe she regrets breaking up with him _Jessi thought. "Unfortunately Cassidy has him. But don't worry. Kyle will save him," she said confidently.

"But where's that other student, the one who helped in kidnapping Kyle?" Foss asked.

Jessi suddenly remembered. "Nate," she growled furiously. "Where is he? Is he here?" She began looking through the crowd for him.

"No he's not here." Mark said regrettably. "Believe me we all wish he was so we could see you could kick the shit out of him. He's the only one who actually volunteered to work for Cassidy. He's probably with him right now, along with that old woman that was down here earlier."

Foss and Jessi looked at each other with wide eyes. They knew who that old woman was. Jessi reached for her radio to inform Kyle but Foss stopped her. "No. You might give away his position. Do it telepathically," he said. Jessi nodded began concentrating her mind and tried to reach Kyle. They were too far apart to have a back and forth conversation but she could still send him a message like he did when he got into that car accident.

Foss went to work. He opened his and Jessi's packs and took out the two big bombs. Unlike the small ones he had been using to blast through the locked doors this one was much more dangerous like the one he destroyed the whole Zyzzyx complex with. He hid the bombs inside two empty pods at opposite ends of the room, so no one would see them and disarm them. He then set the timer on them to twenty minutes. "Okay these two should be enough to destroy all the pods. Now let's do the same thing in the other room," he said to Jessi and all the UW kids.

Jessi and Foss went back to the dark room they just came from where all the fluid was being created and stored. Foss turned on his night vision and opened Kyle's and Emily's packs that they left behind and took the two powerful bombs out and did the same thing he did in the last room. While he was hiding the bombs and setting the timer, Jessi led the others through the dark all the way to the vent that they came out of and helped them climb up there. After Foss was finished and Jessi helped him up through the vent as well she looked at all the guards that she and Kyle beat up a few minutes ago. They all had broken bones and bloody faces and were just beginning to get up in a daze.

"Hey! Listen up!" Jessi shouted to them from across the room. "In just a few minutes, everything on this entire floor will be destroyed. I suggest you all get out of here!" The guards showed their gratitude by firing several bullets at her. Jessi quickly jumped up through the vent and disappeared from sight.

While Jessi and Foss were doing all that below, Kyle and Emily were facing off against quite a lot of Madacorp guards that were blocking the way to the stairs. They weren't nearly as tough as the Latnok guards but they were much more numerous. Kyle and Emily both quickly took cover behind a corner narrowly dodging several bullets. "There's way too many of them!" Emily said exasperatedly. "What are we going to do?" Kyle didn't respond. He was intently concentrating on something and the lights began to get brighter and brighter.

"Oh this trick again. Alright I guess that'll work." Emily said. A few seconds later all the lights burned out plunging the hallway into total darkness. Emily heard Kyle run past her around the corner. He pulled out his baton and began attacking them in the dark. Emily hurt the guards yelling out in pain and bodies hitting the floor but like the guards she couldn't see a thing.

"Emily, come on!" Kyle called out when he was done. Emily quickly ran over to where Kyle was, being careful not to trip over the bodies. All of a sudden…

_Kyle…your mother was here not too long ago. She might still be in the building. You have to hurry if you want to catch her but just remember…Cassidy is mine…_

"What is it?" Emily asked.

"I was just contacted telepathically by Jessi. She says my mother might be in the building. If we move faster, we can still catch her!" Kyle responded urgently.

Kyle opened the door and they both went inside the stairwell. They heard footsteps above them, of several more guards coming down the stairs to fight them. "We don't have time for this," Kyle said.

He went to the center of the stairwell and looked up to the very top of the building. With Emily's weight hanging on to him he could probably jump at least two floors high. He hoped that it would be enough to bypass the guards. "Emily, hold on to me," Kyle said. Emily wrapped her arms around him. "Now please try and stay as quiet as possible for this," he told her. Emily nodded.

Kyle crouched down and used his mind to manipulate the gravitation field of his and Emily's body mass to make them both as light as possible as if they were on the moon. Then he jumped up with all the strength in his legs. He and Emily went flying high up into the air. Emily stayed quiet and the guards who were running down the stairs didn't notice them flying right past them. Once Kyle reached the maximum height of the jump he grabbed onto the railing and pulled both of them over it. He had to do it with just one hand since his other hand was broken but luckily he was strong enough. Then they ran up one more floor and excited the stairwell. But as soon as they were out in the hallway they froze. Between them and Declan there was a very large concentration of guards packed into the hallway. Kyle estimated there must have been fifty of them. One of the guards saw them and shouted, "Hey they're right here!" All the guards pointed their weapons at them.

Kyle and Emily turned around and ran back into the stairwell. As they closed the door they heard many gunshots as the guards tried to shoot them but luckily the door was bullet proof. Unfortunately it wasn't locked. Kyle felt the guards try to push the door open. He was much stronger than a single guard but the combined strength of all of them pushing up against the door was too much for him. He and Emily struggled to hold the door closed. But it got worse. They heard the guards that they bypassed by jumping up floors coming back up the stairs. "They've trapped us! What do we do now?" Emily asked nervously.

Meanwhile Declan was slowly beginning to regain consciousness. He heard several voices talking so he pretended like he was still out. One of those voices had an English accent and Declan knew who it was. "What happened?" Cassidy demanded.

Another voice crackled over a radio. "Sir…we failed to stop them. They've helped all the techs escape and hid explosives somewhere on this floor. The female actually warned us to get out while we still can, over." Declan could tell from the way this person talked that it wasn't a simple Madacorp security guard.

"How the bloody hell could you let them get past you like that?!" Cassidy roared furiously. "These Madacorp wankers I can understand but I thought you and your team were supposed to be highly efficient. You had all the best weapons and equipment. Find those bombs and disarm them now!"

"Pardon me sir but it's too late for us to do anything for this facility. The bombs could go off any second. But we still have a chance of killing the two subjects if we…"

"Now you listen to me you bloody imbecile," Cassidy said in a low threatening voice. "Not a single one of you is going to leave until those bombs are disarmed. I don't care if you all burn to death. Is that clear?"

There was a long pause before the Latnok guard responded. "Yes sir. We'll disarm those bombs or die trying. It's an honor to work for your organization. Omega six out."

Declan listened to all this. He was amazed at the guard's loyalty. He would have just given Cassidy the finger and bailed. He could totally picture Foss being a part of their outfit once upon a time.

"I don't think that was a good idea," Nate said. "Guys like that are hard to replace. Why didn't you just let them go after Kyle and Jessi?"

"Because they are much easier to replace than everything that we built down there," Cassidy said. "Do you know how much money Madacorp has invested in all this? If we lose this facility they might not give us another one."

"So the little bastards didn't take me seriously, eh? Well this will teach them…"

"No don't!" Declan heard Nate yelling. He had his eyes closed but he had a distinct feeling that Cassidy was pointing a gun at him and was about to shoot.

"Listen, maybe we can still use him to escape. You kill him and we'll lose whatever leverage we have!" Nate tried to explain to him.

"We never had any bloody leverage in the first place!" Cassidy snapped. "If we did they would have turned themselves in like I told them to!"

"Cassidy man, listen, Kyle and Jessi obviously care more about completing the mission than saving his life and that's understandable because they think they're saving the world by doing this. So obviously they couldn't stop their mission just to save one guy because the cost would be too great. But there's a big difference between saving the world and catching us. I think they care enough about him to let us escape." Nate said.

Cassidy sighed. "Alright mate, we'll do it your way. I'll go up to my office and get the data we need to continue this somewhere else. You get the kid up to the roof where my mum's waiting with a helicopter. And get some handcuffs on him."

Declan couldn't believe that he hadn't been restrained yet. He heard Cassidy leave the room and Nate's footsteps approaching him. _Now or never…_Declan thought. He opened his eyes and kicked as hard as he could without seeing where. His foot impacted right in Nate's groin. Nate dropped to his knees and groaned in pain. "You…you fight like a girl," he gasped in agony.

Declan got to his feet immediately. "My bad man, that was an accident," he apologized. "But this isn't!" He then kneed Nate in the face several times. Nate fell onto the floor with his nose and lip bleeding. Just then Declan heard several voices yelling out from outside followed by gunshots. The only reason the guards outside would be shooting was that his friends had come back for him. But anyone with common sense would have figured that Cassidy had set a trap for them. He had to help them. He went back on the computer. By now he learned to use it comfortably. After working for a few seconds he sat back satisfied as the computer was processing the command. Suddenly he felt Nate's arm wrap around his neck and start choking him. A second later all the lights on this floor went out like Declan wanted.

Nate wasn't satisfied with just choking Declan out. He wanted to make him suffer. He threw him down on the ground and got on top of him using the small light from the computer screen to see. Then he began mercilessly pummeling Declan's face in the dark. Declan brought his arms up to shield his face but Nate grabbed both of them and pinned them to his side. "I'm gonna headbutt you to death," Nate growled. Declan desperately tried to bring his hands up to protect himself but Nate had them firmly pinned to the floor. His fingers however brushed against one of the guns that belonged to the guards that Kyle fought earlier. He hurriedly tried to bring closer to his hand. Nate then slammed the top of his head into Declan's face and broke his nose. Declan felt incredible pain but Nate also got slightly hurt in the process.

"That hurt a little more than I expected but still it's worth it," Nate said. He was about to headbutt Declan again when Declan pulled the trigger on the gun. It fired off harmlessly to the side somewhere but the loud noise startled Nate. He flinched and loosened his hold on Declan's hands. Declan shook his hands free and swung the gun as hard as he could and hit Nate on the side of the head. "Ahh!" Nate grunted in pain. Declan hit him again. He then grabbed him and pushed him off and rolled on top of him. Now that he was on top he began repeatedly pistol whipping Nate in the face over and over and over without counting how many times.

"Declan, Declan stop! You'll kill him!" he heard Kyle's voice and felt someone pull him off Nate. He turned around and saw Kyle and Emily in the dark. Emily went over to the computer and turned the lights back on. That's when Declan saw their injuries. Kyle had a bloody lip and a black eye while Emily had a bullet hole in her armor surrounded by a lot of blood.

"Are you guys okay? Emily did you get shot?" Declan asked.

"I'm fine kid. Kyle and Jessi healed me. Are you okay? What happened?" Emily asked him back.

Declan turned around and pointed to Nate. "He snuck up on me. He knocked me out but I woke up and…" he stopped as he remembered everything Cassidy said earlier.

"Let me heal you," Kyle offered.

"Forget about me Kyle, your mom is waiting for Cassidy in a helicopter on the roof! If we go _now _we might _just _catch them!" Declan shouted. Kyle turned around and darted out of the room. Emily and Declan tried running after him but at that moment the four bombs that Foss planted detonated. The whole building began shaking like there was a huge earthquake causing Declan and Emily fall down. Kyle staggered but managed to stay on his feet with superior balance and continued running leaving them behind. The lights began flickering on and off with the vibration. After about ten seconds the shaking stopped.

"What the hell was that?" Declan said in shock.

Just then Jessi, Foss, Mark, Jackie, and the other geniuses came running around the corner and stopped when they saw them on the floor. Jessi let out a sigh of relief. "Good. You're okay. But where is Kyle going? I can sense him running through the building," she said.

Before Declan could answer Jackie hugged him tightly and kissed him. "Oh my god, you're covered in blood! Did Cassidy do this to you?" she asked fawning over him. Jessi rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine. Kyle's heading to the roof to stop Cassidy from escaping! His mom has a helicopter and everything! We have to get up there and help him!" Declan said urgently.

Jessi immediately began running in the same direction as Kyle went. Both she and Kyle had memorized the interior of this building before setting foot inside it and they knew how to get to the roof. Declan, Emily and Foss followed her along with all the geniuses. As soon as Jessi turned the corner however, she ran into several guards who were just getting up from their fight with Kyle. He was in a hurry so he didn't knock them out, just stunned them and ran past them. They all menacingly pointed their weapons at her.

Grace Kingsley stood on the roof of the building looking at the Arizona desert that was below. She sighed as she thought about how things seemed to be going so well only a few hours ago and how quickly they went bad. She had also felt the whole building shake a minute ago and knew exactly what it meant. Everything that Cassidy and his workers had built was now destroyed. They had come so close to their goal only for it all to be taken away at the last minute. Those science experiments had ruined everything. She completely underestimated their capabilities and resolve.

Now there was only one thing to do. She and her son would have to go into hiding and restart everything from the beginning. Maybe Madacorp would help them, maybe they wouldn't. But eventually, she swore, she would succeed. It would just take longer. All Kyle and Jessi had done was delay the inevitable. _I've been planning this for more than a decade_ she thought. _I can wait a few more months._

She heard the door open behind her and turned around expecting to see her son. Well it was her son, just not the one she expected. As soon as her two bodyguards saw him they immediately pointed their weapons at him. Kyle simply stood there looking at Grace without any fear of her bodyguards. She was surprised to see that he was actually holding a gun in his hand although he wasn't pointing it at anyone. The way he was holding it gave off the impression that he was very uncomfortable even holding such a weapon.

Grace wondered why Kyle didn't simply kill the two bodyguards as soon as he arrived. He had a weapon and his reflexes were much faster than theirs so he could have killed them before they even raised their own weapons. Then she realized why he didn't. He was just like Baylin. He still didn't have it in him to kill another human being. Until very recently he didn't have it in him to even harm another human being. Then his brother Michael changed all that. "It's alright, stand down," she ordered the bodyguards. They very reluctantly put their weapons down. Unlike the Madacorp guards, these guys knew exactly what Kyle and Jessi were and what they were capable off. And they could see that Kyle was armed.

"Well, well, well," Grace began saying. "I must say I'm quite impressed that you've managed to find me. But now that you've caught me what do you intend to do? Shoot me with that?" she asked pointing at the gun and smiled amused. Grace didn't look at all like the evil person that she was. She looked like she must have been very good looking back in her younger days and she had a very kind expression that was completely misleading.

Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. I was in such a rush to catch you, I didn't really think about what I'd do," he admitted. "For now I'll just stop you from getting on that helicopter." Even as he said this he still didn't point the gun at her, maybe because he knew her two bodyguards would kill him if he threatened her.

Grace laughed. "Oh, please. We both know you won't kill me even if these men weren't here. And you can't turn me to the police either because you have no evidence against me. As a matter of fact I think they'll arrest _you_ for illegally keeping me here all night against my will."

"Don't worry Grace. You don't have to stay here for long," Kyle said with his own smile. "I can sense Jessi coming up here."

"Really? And then what, the three of us chat and get to know each other?" Grace asked sarcastically. "I'm sorry my dear boy, I'm a very busy woman and I don't have the time for that."

"Well, no, not the three of us. I'm thinking after Jessi and I are done taking out your bodyguards I'll just leave the two of you alone. Then you can talk about your involvement in her mother's murder." Kyle replied still smiling. "By the way, and I'm sure you already know this, but Jessi's like me so she can also tell when people are lying to her," he added.

Grace stopped smiling. Kyle might not be a killer but Jessi had already killed once and even though she greatly regretted it, Grace had no doubt she would kill again to avenge her mother. And she did tell her son to kill Sarah. She tried to reason with her other son. "Look Kyle, why do you two insist on fighting us, when you can be part of us? I already told you, Latnok is dedicated towards improving humanity. Just imagine what a hundred minds like yours and Jessi's working together can accomplish. They can put an end to world hunger, disease, environmental destruction, and the technological breakthroughs will be…"

Kyle really didn't want to hear all this crap. "You don't care about any of that, Grace. You're only doing this for money."

"What's wrong with that?" Grace shot back angrily. "What I'm offering the world is truly remarkable. Priceless. What's wrong with wanting a financial reward for it? I'm sorry my dear boy, but can't all be as altruistic as you or Adam. No one gives anything for free, you see, that's just the way the world works."

"You're right," Kyle agreed, "and I don't have a problem with that. But what you are doing is still extremely illegal in every country in the world, not to mention, completely unethical."

"Illegal? What are you a cop? Those laws are only getting in the way of scientific progress. They deserve to be broken!" Grace shrieked in rage. "And as for unethical, that is nothing more than a matter of opinion."

"Yes you're right, it's my opinion," Kyle responded calmly. "And I'm not going to let you use _people _like me and Jessi your lab rats or be sell them like they're property," he declared. "Oh, and I don't really like your customers either," he added referring to scumbags like Han.

"People? No, no, no, you're not people. You two are nothing but science experiments! I helped create you, you insolent brat! I will not be told what to do by a mere out of control experiment! Grace screamed harshly. She closed her eyes took several breaths to calm down. When she opened her eyes her expression had softened considerably and she began smiling again. It was a completely misleading expression. "Kill him," she said in a much calmer voice.

The guards pointed their weapons at him again but this time Kyle was ready for them. Before they could pull the trigger he jumped several feet into the air and began somersaulting over their heads. When he was directly above them and his body was upside down he pointed the gun at one guard and thought, _I'm sorry Nicole. I know you would never forgive me for this._ He never fired a real gun before in his life but hoped that he would have amazing hand eye coordination just like the first time he played basketball. He did. He fired one bullet then quickly switched his aim to the other guard and fired another bullet. He flipped over and landed right behind them. A second later both guards collapsed.

Kyle took a deep breath and reluctantly turned around to see what he had just done. One guard's face shield was smeared with blood on the inside and Kyle couldn't even see his face. The bullet had gone straight through the shield.

Kyle closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm so sorry. I really hoped I could live my life without ever having to resort to this," he said to their motionless bodies. "But you didn't let me."

He knew he had no other choice. This time he couldn't just disable the lights and fight them hand to hand like he had been doing in the narrow hallways of the building. It was kill or be killed. But still it was nothing to be proud off. He tossed the gun away and sighed sadly. _I'll never use another gun again no matter what happens_ he swore. But he didn't have much time to dwell on this because Grace's helicopter began rising into the air.

Inside the helicopter Grace watched the whole thing in horror. _This_ was completely unexpected. It went against everything that Latnok knew about him. Just one month ago no one would have been able to foresee this happening. Just one month ago Kyle was extremely reluctant to even harm another human being let alone kill. Grace knew that she and her son were responsible for this rapid change. After their constant harassment they had finally forced him to use his abilities to fight back with violence. They had turned him into If Grace was watching this on screen from the safety of the Latnok headquarters she and all the other scientists would be finding this new behavior fascinating but since she was right here with him she was terrified for her own life. "Peter, get me out of here now!" she said to the pilot.

Kyle crouched down and timed it perfectly. He couldn't jump when the helicopter was right above him because by the time he reached that height it would have passed him. He had to time it perfectly. He calculated the speed at which the helicopter was moving along with the speed he could jump at. Once he found out the exact moment at which to jump at he waited for the helicopter to be in the right position and jumped straight up. As he went flying through the air he saw the helicopter getting closer and closer as he got higher. By the time he reached his maximum height the helicopter was passing right above him and he grabbed onto the landing gear.

His weight made the helicopter lose balance and it tilted to one side. "Peter, what on earth are you doing?" Grace screamed at the pilot.

"It's not me, he must have grabbed onto us," the pilot told her. "I'll try to shake him off." He began turning the helicopter round and round in circles trying to throw Kyle off. Kyle desperately hung on for his life with only one hand since his other one was broken. If he fell there was no way he could survive.

Meanwhile one of the guards that Kyle thought he killed wasn't dead at all. The bullet had been stopped by his helmet and he was merely stunned. Now he slowly got up and saw his friend's dead body. "No…Matt…" he whimpered and then shouted, "NOOOOOO!" He looked up at the helicopter desperately trying to shake Kyle off and felt incredible rage and hatred. "Don't worry buddy," he said to his friend's dead body. "I'll get kill that freak. I'll avenge you." He picked up his assault rifle and aimed it at Kyle.

Inside the helicopter Grace took out her revolver. "Hold it steady," she commanded the guard. "I'll take care of him." She had no problem killing her son because she didn't see him as a son just as Kyle didn't see her as a mother. He was nothing more than an experiment to her and she was going to end it once and for all. She made her way to the door and opened it. She looked down and saw Kyle barely hanging onto the landing gear with one hand. He was completely helpless right now. She pointed the weapon at his head and said, "You have interfered with my plans for the last time you little brat. This is what you get for turning against your creators!"

Just then the guard on the roof began firing and Kyle heard several bullets flying all around him. One of them hit the helicopter went through the thin metal and almost hit Grace. She jumped back startled. "What are you doing you idiot? Stop!" she screamed but of course the guard couldn't hear her. Two bullets hit Kyle in the back and went right through the armor like it was paper. Another bullet hit him in the leg. Blood flood out of the wounds. Kyle cried out in pain and but struggled to hold on.

The guard kept firing at Kyle. All that mattered to him was to avenge his friend. He was blinded by rage and hatred he didn't realize the danger in shooting at a moving helicopter. Several of his bullets hit the helicopter and went right through. They bounced around inside narrowly missing Grace. Unfortunately the pilot wasn't so lucky. The helicopter started spinning out of control in wild circles again. This time Grace wasn't safely secured to her seat. She went flying out the open door screaming. Kyle managed to catch her with his broken hand. It hurt tremendously and took all his concentration to ignore the pain and not let go.

The guard saw what he had accidentally done. "Oh shit…That's definitely not good…" he said and stopped firing.

"Kyle, please don't let go!" Grace pleaded with him. Just a few seconds ago she was going to kill him. Now her life depended on him.

"My hand, it hurts!" Kyle yelled gritting his teeth.

"Push through the pain! I know you're capable of doing it," Grace said. Kyle tried. But no matter how much his brain could focus, his body still had limits. There was an audible snap as the bones in his hand gave way. Kyle couldn't bear it, his hand instinctively let go of Grace. He watched as she fell screaming towards the parking lot below and closed his eyes.

The helicopter was now descending at a very dangerous rate and getting faster and faster. Kyle swung his legs up and pressed them onto the landing gear and pushed off with whatever remaining strength he had left. He just barely managed to land on the roof of the building while the helicopter fell several feet below. Kyle heard an incredibly loud explosion but was too tired to get up and look. The loss of blood was getting to him. He saw Grace's bodyguard who shot him several times looking over him. The man pointed his weapon at his face and said, "This is for Matt and Pete and Grace…"

"Leave him alone!" Jessi shouted. The guard turned to look and saw a baton flying towards him very fast. It him in the face and knocked him down but his face shield protected him from getting hurt. He quickly got back up. Foss and Emily shot him several times with their rubber bullets but the guard barely felt it through his armor. He fired several real bullets back at them sending them diving back into the door in which they came out of. He didn't realize Jessi was in the air.

She landed right behind and swept his legs out from under him. As soon as he fell she got on top of him and grabbed the weapon from his hand and threw it away. She then punched him in the face as hard as she could. The face shield cracked. Jessi winced in pain and reached for her baton which was lying right next to the guard. Before she grabbed it however the guard used the flat edge of his hand between his thumb and index finger to hit her in the throat. Jessi started choking. The guard took out his knife and plunged into her side. Jessi yelped in pain. The guard pushed her off him and got on top of her. He tried to stab her again but she grabbed his hand. Even though she was wounded and struggling to breathe she was still quite strong. All of a sudden Jessi heard a burst of gunfire behind the guard. He then slumped lifelessly over her. She pushed him off and saw Foss holding the guard's weapon.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

Jessi put her hand to her side where she was stabbed and concentrated. Within a few seconds the wound closed up and healed. Like always she felt a dull pain in her head but ignored it. She immediately looked over Kyle along with Foss, Declan, Emily, Mark, and Jackie.

"Kyle, come on man, say something!" Declan shouted.

"J..J..Jess…" Kyle sputtered. Blood came out of his mouth as he struggled to speak.

"I'm here, Kyle. It's going to be okay," Jessi told him.

"He's been shot way too many times," Jackie said shaking her head. "I don't know if there's anything we can do."

"Yes there is. I'm going to heal him," Jessi said. She closed her eyes and began concentrating.

"You can do that?" Jackie asked astounded. Jessi didn't answer. She was intently concentrating. In all the floors below them the lights began flickering. Several of them exploded sending sparks flying everywhere scaring the hell out of the guards. Blood began trickling out of both of Jessi's nostrils. Everyone saw this.

"What's happening to her?" Emily asked.

"She's overworking herself," Foss said. He didn't know whether to stop her or not. He really wanted Kyle to survive but he would rather lose one of them than both.

"Look, it's working!" Declan said excitedly. Jessi was succeeding. Kyle's wounds were slowly healing and in the process the bullets were being pushed out of his body. Everyone watched in silence for a minute. Jessi continued to heal him until she heard a voice in her head.

_That's enough Jessi. I'll live._ Kyle said telepathically. He didn't want her to exhaust herself. She still had to go after Cassidy.

Jessi opened her eyes. "He'll be fine for now. But we need to get him to a hospital," she said. She then clutched her head and groaned. "I don't feel too good though."

"You shouldn't have healed me as much as you did," Kyle said weakly. Everyone immediately looked at him in amazement. "But what took you guys so long?"

"That's incredible, man. You guys are like immortal!" Mark exclaimed. "You can just keep healing yourselves!"

"No believe me, we're quite mortal," Jessi said still clutching her head. "Every time we heal ourselves or someone else it puts a strain on our brain that can kill us if we overdo it. I already healed Emily and myself and Kyle's wounds were much more critical. I don't know how I managed…" She looked up at them. "But now it's finally over and we can all go home."

"Jessi you still…" Kyle began weakly but didn't get to finish his sentence because Jessi covered his mouth with her own and kissed him more passionately than she ever did before. Even with that incredible brain of his Kyle somehow forgot what he was going to tell her. Whatever it was it could wait. He savored every second of the kiss. Jessi very carefully positioned herself on top of him making sure she didn't put any weight on him when he was this injured and continued kissing. Kyle placed his hand behind her head and ran it gently through her hair. They heard Emily say something about now not being the best time but they weren't really listening because it felt like Emily and everyone else around them weren't even there. There was no mission, no guards trying to kill them, no Cassidy, only the two of them. For that short moment, nothing else mattered.

**So like I said if you don't like how Kyle kills someone then tell me so I can edit it. But aside from that part how was the rest of the chapter? That whole headbutt thing that Nate was doing, it might sound stupid but I was on the recieving end of that and trust me it's pretty effective. CptLatnok, the reason I said they couldn't heal broken bones is because I wanted to put limits on them. I didn't want them to seem like superheroes.  
**


	33. Chapter 33

**I know I said that other chapter was the only one that would be narrated but I wanted to explain Jessi's plan from her POV so the first half is narrated by her.**

[Start of Jessi's narration]

Finally after all that kissing, our mouths separated so we could catch our breath. Most girls might think it's romantic to make out with the boy they love under a full moon but not the way we were doing it. First of all we were surrounded by a bunch of people who were indirectly dropping hints that now wasn't the best time. Second, both Kyle and I were in a lot of pain. I had a massive headache from healing him. And his injuries, while no longer life threatening, were still quite painful. It pretty much ruined the whole intimate experience. But we just couldn't help ourselves so we blocked out the physical discomfort and tried to make the best of it.

I was just so glad that Kyle was going to live and so proud that I managed to heal him. He means everything to me. Kyle is much more than just a boyfriend. Even before we started dating he was very special to me. He's about as close to the literal meaning of soul mate as a person could get. We might not have literally shared the same soul but no one else had the connection that we shared. I know many other couples would claim the same thing but none of them can sense each other's presence from far away or communicate telepathically. Despite our similarities we're quite different from each other but it's like we're two sides of the same coin. Losing Kyle would have been worse than simply losing someone I was deeply in love with. A big part of me would have died with him. I would have been half a person.

But I didn't have to worry about all that because he was going to be okay. I kissed him again but this time Kyle turned his head away. I could sense that something was bothering him and it bothered me as well. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"It's not over just yet," he said with a pained expression on his face. It must have hurt him a lot to talk. It probably hurt him just to breathe. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to kiss him like that even though he didn't complain. Feeling bad I quickly got off him and sat next to him.

"What do you mean?" I asked warily. We had stopped the experiment, gotten rid of Cassidy and Grace Kingsley, and freed all the students from UW that Cassidy had basically enslaved. We did everything there was to do. What else was there?

"You still have to go after Cassidy," Kyle said answering my question.

"Cassidy?" everyone repeated at the same time sounding confused. We had all seen the helicopter crash. There was no way anyone would have survived that. Perhaps the loss of blood was making Kyle slightly delusional.

"But he was in the helicopter wasn't he?" I asked. I would have preferred to have met Sarah's murderer before he died but whatever, I was just glad he was dead.

"No. He wasn't here when I came up. I think he's still in the building somewhere," Kyle said.

Everyone was silent as they contemplated this new information. So many thoughts began rushing through my head. So Cassidy was still alive was he? That meant I could still carry out my plan. I had something special cooked up for him. But the original plan was to have Declan videotape my encounter with him from the camera room. Nate had screwed everything up. I had to think of another way to prove that Cassidy was a murderer.

"Wait a minute I think I know where he is," Declan said snapping his fingers as he tried to remember. It's unfortunate that no one else has the memory that Kyle and I have. "Um, I think he said something about going to his office and getting some data so he could start this shit somewhere else," he said.

"Hey, I know where his office is. I could lead you guys there," Mark offered.

"Let's finish this so we can all go home," Emily said as she loaded another magazine of rubber bullets into her weapon. But they couldn't come along with me. They would completely mess up my plan. I had to do this alone.

"No," I said. "Cassidy is mine and mine alone. I need Mark to show me the way there but the rest of you get out of here. And get Kyle to a hospital." I told them.

Actually I didn't really need Mark to show me the way. He could have just told me how to get there and I would have remembered the directions exactly. But what I really needed him for was to be an eye witness. I would have preferred to have an actual recording, a solid piece of evidence showing how murderous Cassidy was but this was the next best thing. Everyone will have to believe Mark. Cassidy was already arrested for breaking into our house and assaulting Kyle and there was no way that all the guys from UW were going to sit quietly when Cassidy forced them to work for him by threatening their families. Cassidy would be in way too much trouble for anyone to not believe Mark.

"Don't worry about Kyle. We'll take him to the hospital," Jackie said referring to herself and her UW friends. "But you'll need your friends' help to…"

"I said he's mine!" I said more firmly. "Now if anyone tries to follow me and Mark, I'll just put you to sleep for a few hours, got it?"

"Jessi shut up!" Emily snapped. "This isn't the time to be feeling all vengeful. This is still our mission and I just want to end it so I can concentrate on getting my life back. I'm not in the mood to deal with another one of your tantrums!"

I glared at her threateningly but she just glared right back at me. What the hell did Emily know anyway? I bet she wouldn't be talking like that if it was her mother who got killed. This was the perfect time to feel vengeful. I've been waiting for this moment for far too long and now that it was finally here I wasn't going to let anyone get in the way. She was so lucky that Declan came between us then because I was seriously about to knock her out right there.

"Uh, ladies? How about this? We all go to find Cassidy together and fight whatever guards he has protecting him. But once we take out all the threats we'll just look the other way while Jessi does…whatever she needs to do…" his voice trailed off feebly as everyone else looked at him alarmed that he would even suggest such a thing. But Tom agreed with him.

"Look, Cassidy is a bad guy. He'll just get out of jail and start everything all over again. He murdered Jessi's mother for crying out loud. But Jessi, you should let me take care of it. I don't have a problem with you killing in self defense but if it's not self defense…I'd rather you leave it to me. Trust me you don't want to get desensitized to death like I am," he said.

"Tom, are you insane? Are you seriously offering to kill somebody for her?" Emily asked in disbelief. "She's disturbed enough as it is, don't encourage her."

Everyone began arguing loudly with each other. They all thought I was set on killing Cassidy, with Declan and Tom on my side versus everybody else who was against the idea. But like I already said I wasn't going to kill anyone. That day I somewhat made up with Amanda I took an oath that I would never kill again unless I had to in self defense. But I couldn't let them know what my real plan was so I had to pretend to agree with them. Then before they knew what was happening I would put them to sleep one by one and get them out of my way and then go after Cassidy alone, with Mark as my witness of course.

"Alright, fine, I promise I won't kill anyone. Let's just go get him before he escapes. But first I need to talk to you about something," I told Tom.

He nodded and said, "Let's make it quick." We walked several feet away from everybody else until we were out of their hearing range. "What did you want to talk about?" Tom asked.

"I've always wondered about something. When I first woke up in Zyzzyx everything around me was destroyed and burning but I managed to survive. You're the one who destroyed Zyzzyx, right? I know you used to work there but, did you know that I was there?" I asked him.

"No. I didn't know about you until much later. Your father created you without my knowledge," Foss answered. His heart rate sped up a little bit. He wasn't necessarily lying but he wasn't telling the whole story either.

"So the whole time you were at Zyzzyx you never saw me? Not once?" I asked repeating the same question. I could tell that Foss wanted to answer no but he knew he couldn't lie to me.

"Well actually, the day I destroyed Zyzzyx was the first time I saw you," he confessed. He was ashamed to admit it just as he should be.

He knew I was in Zyzzyx, another one like Kyle, but he bombed it anyway knowing full well that I could have been killed in the explosion. I guess he thought I was just collateral damage. But why was I feeling sad? I should be used to this by now. It was the same story all my life. I had always felt so unwanted by almost everybody, like I was a mistake. Kyle was the one that was destined for greatness. But me, I was damaged, imperfect, flawed, whatever you want to call it. Just look at how different our personalities are. I killed someone only a few hours after I came out of the pod. Kyle didn't even fight back when that juvenile delinquent punched him. Foss had the right idea when he was willing to sacrifice me in the process of destroying Zyzzyx in order to protect Kyle. It's unfortunate that I survived.

"Well you did accidentally help me escape so I guess I should be grateful for that," I said looking down and not sounding grateful at all.

"It's not like that," Tom protested. "I had already set the timer and I was on my way out. There was no time to save you…" That was a stupid excuse. He could have gone back and stopped the timer. I bet he would have done that for Kyle. I wish I was never created.

"You don't have to make excuses Foss," I said coldly addressing him by his last name. "I understand perfectly. You were assigned to protect Kyle. Not me."

Tom looked hurt. "Jessi, come on, don't act like that. Look, I don't really like talking about stuff like this but you have no idea how much you mean to me, do you? You and Kyle are the only reasons I have to live." He paused and then added, "The only reason I haven't killed myself yet."

I looked up at him shocked. Tom nodded and continued, "Every morning when I wake up I look at a picture of my wife and daughter and think of how I'm responsible for their deaths. I won't lie to you; I've come pretty close to suicide more than once. But the only thing that stops me from pulling the trigger is you two. Because I know you guys need me just like I need you. You two are all I have left. Everyone else close to me is dead. My family, my friends, Adam…" he stopped talking and looked away.

I didn't know what to say. I just stood there speechless. I never knew that Tom was suicidal or that he had a wife and a daughter or that he was somehow responsible for their deaths. I patiently waited for him to speak again. He looked back at me and said, "When I saw you in Zyzzyx I didn't know you like I do now. I didn't know how great you would turn out to be. But now, if anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself, whether I could have prevented it or not. I guess what I'm trying to say is…Jessi I…love you like you're my own daughter." He looked a little embarrassed to say it but I understood. He was uncomfortable expressing his emotions. I'm like that too sometimes. I immediately hugged him.

This whole time I was willing to sacrifice myself thinking that since it was my life it should be my decision. I thought it would be a really noble way to die and avenge my mother. But now I realized how cruel and unfair it would be to Foss and everyone. There's nothing noble about making them suffer like that. Just a few minutes ago I was thinking about how horrible it would be to live without Kyle, my soul mate and my other half, but how could I do the same thing to him then? Basically, allowing Cassidy to kill me is like me murdering someone that my family and friends love and care about. It was just as bad. I didn't want to give them the same pain I felt when Cassidy took my mother away from me. Tom had already lost enough people that he cared about and was borderline suicidal. I really didn't want to add to that.

"So now that we've got that out of the way can we please just go back to the mission?" Tom asked impatiently. I nodded. It was unfortunate Cassidy would live and he wouldn't get the prison sentence he deserved. Oh well. I'll just have to give him one hell of a beating to make up for it. Well, it still wouldn't make up for what he's done to me, not by a long shot, but that's okay. I had too much to live for to let my life be consumed by revenge.

[End of Jessi's narration]

Meanwhile in his office Cassidy was very frustrated with his computer. For some reason it didn't accept his password even though it was the same password he had used countless times over the past few weeks. He had logged onto it earlier today just fine. Why wasn't it accepting his password now?

_It must have been Mark and Jackie_ he thought in fury. They must have hacked into his computer and activated their 'stolen' I.D. cards allowing Kyle and Jessi to enter the building and while they were at it they decided to lock him out as well. Cassidy banged his keyboard angrily breaking the delicate mechanisms inside it. If he couldn't take the data out of the computer then he'd just take the whole computer with him, he decided. He hurriedly began unplugging all the wires and cables. Once the computer was disconnected from everything he picked it up and walked out of his room. As soon as he stepped out the door however Jessi's fist slammed into his jaw dislocating it and knocking him down causing the computer to crash onto the floor. Cassidy looked up startled.

"Well that didn't sound too good. Here let me fix it for you," Declan said. Declan had a gun that he took from some unconscious guard that Jessi had knocked out. He pointed it at the computer and fired all his bullets into it destroying the hard drive. "Oops. Oh well. Good thing you didn't have anything important in there," he said sarcastically.

Cassidy staggered onto his feet and turned around attempting to run away when another fist hit him in the face breaking his nose and knocking him down again. He looked up and saw Foss, Emily, and Mark. He frantically backed away from them back crawling back into his office. The five of them followed him in with Jessi leading the way. Cassidy got up and pointed his gun at Jessi but she instantly disarmed him with her lightning fast reflexes. She then grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her and head butted him in the face knocking him down yet again.

Cassidy tried to reach for his gun which was lying by his side but Jessi stomped on his and hand crushing all the finger bones.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!" Cassidy screamed in agony. "You bitch!"

Jessi grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up into the air choking him in the process. "Did you make my mother suffer this much when you murdered her?" she asked in a quiet calm voice. "I know she died slowly. I heard her heartbeat get slower and slower until it finally stopped. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WAS LIKE FOR ME?" she shouted and threw Cassidy into the large glass window. It cracked but didn't break. Cassidy bounced off it painfully his blood stains were splattered on the glass. She began walking towards him.

"No, Jessi, stop! It was my mother's idea! She ordered me to do it because she knew Sarah would try and interfere with our plan!" Cassidy said desperately. Jessi found it pathetic how some people would say anything just to save their own life. Cassidy had just betrayed his own mother. But it was too late to do anything to Grace.

"So what?" she spat in fury. "You're still the one who killed her. And by the way your mother is dead."

"What? No! You're lying!" Cassidy shouted in denial.

Jessi grabbed him by the hair and began dragging him out of the room. The other four followed her out wondering what she was up to. Jessi dragged Cassidy all the way to a room on another side of the building. She lifted him up and slammed his face against the window glass. "See that flaming wreck down there? That's your mother's helicopter. She was accidentally killed by one of her own body guards while he was trying to shoot Kyle. Now you know how I feel." She let go of Cassidy allowing him to stand as he stared at the burning carnage.

He turned around with a looking furious. "I'm going to kill you," he growled.

"Go for it," Jessi challenged. Cassidy lunged towards her trying to punch her but she caught his hand and snapped his wrist in an incredibly fast motion. Cassidy screamed horribly holding his wrist but no one felt sorry for him. They all formed a circle around him. Jessi punched Cassidy in the face sending him staggering backwards into Foss. Foss caught him, turned him around and delivered his own solid punch pushing Cassidy into Declan who did the same sending Cassidy towards Mark.

Mark caught Cassidy and looked at him. Cassidy shook his head imploringly. He was too badly hurt to fight back. "This is for threatening Lori's family, you jerk," Mark said and punched Cassidy in Emily's direction. Emily punched Cassidy several times before shoving him towards Jessi. Jessi spun around and delivered a solid spin kick that lifted Cassidy off his feet and caused him to land a few feet away in a bloody mess.

Jessi walked over to him. "This is for stomping on my face before," Jessi told him as she raised her foot and brought it down on his face. Cassidy lay there motionless. Everyone stared at him quietly for a few seconds.

"Is he dead?" Emily asked.

"No, he's still alive. I can hear his heartbeat," Jessi said without taking her eyes off him.

"Well I can change that," Foss said.

"Tom, don't. We've done enough." Emily told him.

"Not yet we haven't," Mark pointed out. "But once we tell the police how he forced us to participate in illegal experiments by threatening our family he'll go away for years," he said smirking.

"Yeah but that's not long enough," Declan said unsatisfied. "He killed Jessi's mother. I say an eye for an eye."

"This isn't the middle ages kid." Emily protested.

"I think it should be Jessi's decision," Foss said. Everyone agreed and became silent. "Jessi, what do you want? Do you want him to live or die?" Foss asked her gently. Jessi still didn't take her eyes of Cassidy. Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the day she realized Cassidy had murdered Sarah. She remembered the blood stained towels he tried to sneak past her. The bloody handprints in the hallway Cassidy had thought he wiped clean gave her nightmares for weeks. Despite her best effort a sob escaped from her throat. She remembered listening to Sarah's heartbeat get slower and slower as her life slipped away. She remembered how she wanted to run into the room and save her but couldn't because it was just a memory and it had already happened. Jessi began uncontrollably sobbing as the tears now flowed freely down her cheeks. Foss hugged Jessi. "Jessi, it's finally over now," he said soothingly. "You got the bastard. I can finish it if you want me to. Just say the word. No matter what your decision is, I'll support it."

Jessi shook her head. "She wouldn't want me to," she sniffled.

"I understand," Foss said as he held her gently. Emily smiled approvingly. Marked sighed in relief. Declan didn't agree with Jessi but he respected her decision and nodded silently. He violently kicked Cassidy in the ribs a few times though.

After they had made sure that Cassidy wasn't going anywhere they all went back up to the roof to rest and sat under the night sky. By now Jackie and her friends had gotten Kyle to a hospital already so it was just the five of them.

"I can't believe its only 3 AM," Declan remarked looking at his cellphone.

"I know," Emily sighed tiredly. "You know what would be really fitting for a moment like this? If the sun came up just as we were done with everything. That would have been nice. But cute coincidences like that only happen in movies."

"Hey we should all celebrate tomorrow," Declan said trying to elevate the mood. "Foss, remember you said…"

"I said I'll think about it," Foss said rolling his eyes.

"I'm not really in the mood to celebrate," Jessi said finally wiping her eyes. "I want to be at the hospital with Kyle."

"That's right. We should all be there," Foss said. Declan and Mark nodded in agreement.

"Well I can't be there. I'm a fugitive," Emily said sadly. With all the action tonight she had completely forgotten about that. "Now I have to find a way to get my life back."

"Don't worry Ms. Hollander. When we testify against Cassidy, we'll tell them that the reason you broke into Madacorp was because you knew about his plan the whole time and you were trying to bring him down." Mark told her. "We'll say that you helped us escape and we beat up Cassidy. We won't even have to mention Kyle and Jessi."

"So Jessi, what exactly did you want me to videotape when I was in that room?" Declan asked suddenly.

"Nothing," Jessi replied. "It doesn't matter anymore now that all this is finally over."

"I hope it really is over this time," Declan said. "Because how many times have we thought it was over when it really wasn't?"

"Oh it's not over yet," a voice behind them said. Everybody immediately wheeled around and saw Nate accompanied by several Madacorp guards all pointing guns at them. There were way too many of them. Nate's face was a mess. It was covered in blood and bruises and his eye was swollen to the point where he couldn't even open it. He was pointing the gun at Declan. "But it will be once I kill all of you."

"Nate, just give up, man," Mark said shaking his head in pity. "You lost. We stopped the experiment and we kicked the shit out of Cassidy. Just get the hell out of here while we're too tired to chase you."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, bro," Nate said moving the gun from Declan to Mark. "I'm not going to let you testify against me and ruin my future. I'm too smart to waste all my potential in prison."

"You should have thought of that before you decided to help Cassidy," Mark replied. "And even if you kill me, Jackie and the others have already escaped from here. They'll still tell everybody what you did."

Nate smiled and said, "Well then I guess I'll have to hunt them down."

"Why are you all listening to this clown?" Emily asked the guards.

"Because they know that if they work for me I could make them very rich in just a few years." Nate answered for them. "You see, once I get you guys out of the way, I'll restart the experiment by myself. And I know how to build the pods and make the fluid because unlike Cassidy, I actually worked on them with you guys. I already have all the information I need in my head." As he was talking they saw many Latnok guards in their black SWAT looking armor stealthily creeping up behind him and the Madacorp guards "Anyway I've said enough. We need to hurry if we want to catch Jackie and the others. I think I'll kill you first last," he said to Declan. "So you can see all your friends die." He pointed the gun at Jessi and was just about to shoot when the Latnok guards jabbed their rifles into the backs of Nate and all the Madacorp guards. "Drop the guns," one of them said.

Nate and all his guards reluctantly dropped their weapons. The Latnok guards put handcuffs on all of them. When Nate saw who was restraining him he was furious. "What the hell are you doing, you idiots? You're detaining the wrong people!" he yelled. One of the guards slammed the butt end of his rifle into is face and knocked him out. But they didn't pay any attention to Jessi and the others.

"What's going on?" Declan asked feeling incredibly confused. "I thought they were the bad guys." No one could answer his question because they were equally puzzled as to what was going on.

Just then an old man walked up to them. He looked like he was in his eighties. "There you are," he chuckled. "We've been searching the whole building looking for you." He looked at Jessi and smiled nostalgically. "You look just like Sarah when she was your age," he commented. Jessi already knew this so she didn't say anything. She waited for the man to introduce himself but he didn't. He turned to Foss and said, "Good to see you again, Tom. It's been a long time hasn't it?"

Foss was stunned by the man's presence. He looked like he was seeing a ghost. "You?" he asked incredulously.

"Tom, who is he?" Jessi asked Foss. But Foss just stood there speechless.

"Kyle and all your friends are all waiting for you in the hospital," the old man told them. "I'll explain everything there." He turned around and walked away.

"Foss, who is that guy?" Declan repeated Jessi's question.

"His name is Robert Baylin," Foss finally answered without taking his eyes off the man. "He's one of the senior members of Latnok."

"Baylin?"

Foss nodded. "Yeah. He's Adam's biological father."

**Let me know how it was.**


	34. Chapter 34

**CptLatnok now that was funny as hell because I just had my teeth pulled literally the day before I published that chapter and it SUCKED. Kept spitting blood for hours. So I'm real sorry for putting you through that much pain man haha but its all good. I like honest reviews because that's how I know what works and what doesn't. If you want I can edit the chapter and make the narrating part normal. Let me know. Kessi38 I'm sorry but I just couldn't picture that happening on the show, you know? And you both of you have been reviewing like every chapter so thanks a lot for that. In this chapter Adam Baylin's father just explains everything.**

The small hospital room was pretty crowded. There was Kyle, Jessi, Declan, Foss, Mark, Jackie, and all their friends that were freed. And there was also Robert Baylin accompanied by another much younger looking man who was dressed in a suit and looking very official. "So, are we all here?" Robert asked.

"Everyone except Emily," Foss answered. "She can't be seen in public."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. But she deserves to hear this. Tom, could you please go and get her? Agent Perez will come with you to make sure you won't have any problems." Robert said gesturing towards the man with him.

"I'm sorry, you said agent?" Foss asked sounding worried. "Robert is this guy a cop? Because I'm not going to turn Emily over to them."

"Relax, I'm not a cop. I'm a government agent," the man replied. "I'll make sure those cops downstairs won't bother Ms. Hollander while she's coming up here. Let's go." The two of them left to get Emily.

"What's a government agent doing here?" Kyle wondered out loud. "Was the government trying to find Cassidy too?"

"They tried to," Robert said. "Once the government found out that Michael Cassidy was selling your clones to anybody and everybody who could pay they realized how dangerous that was and immediately contacted us. They thought that he was with us. But Cassidy and his mother have been working independently for a while now."

"Excuse me, but Jessi told me that you're Adam's father. Is that true?" Kyle asked him.

Robert nodded. "Let's just wait for Ms. Hollander to come up here. Then I'll explain everything."

Foss and the man named Perez finally returned with Emily. She was looking quite uncomfortable. She must have gotten a lot of stares from other people in the hospital who recognized her. "Hi Kyle. You're looking better already," she greeted him.

"I'm trying to heal myself slowly but much faster than a regular person so that way I don't exhaust myself," Kyle told her. "Jessi's helping too," he added.

"Miss Hollander," Robert said nodding at her. "I wanted you to be here because I felt that you deserved to hear my explanation since you contributed so much." Emily nodded back without saying anything. She didn't really know what to think of him yet but he did get rid of Nate for them.

"Some of you already know this story but for those of you who don't here it is," Robert began his story. "I was one of the first and original members of Latnok. We did several experiments to increase human intelligence. We thought that if a human spent more time developing inside the womb the brain would become more advanced so we tried to extend the gestation period. My own wife, who was also a scientist, volunteered for the experiment." He paused and looked down sadly. "It was successful but it came at a great cost. Unfortunately she didn't survive giving birth to our child who was none other than Adam Baylin. We tried the experiment again a few months later when we thought we worked out all the kinks. This time Sarah Emerson was born but once again, the mother died. After that we decided not to try again. We didn't want to risk anymore lives."

"So you're my grandfather…" Kyle thought astounded by this new discovery.

Robert looked taken aback. Like Grace, he didn't really see Kyle as his family but rather just an experiment that his son created. But unlike Grace he did respect Kyle as a person. "Well Kyle, I suppose if you really want to look at it that way I am the closest thing to a grandfather that you have."

"Do I have a grandfather too?" Jessi asked.

"Listen, you two can't really have parents or grandparents because unlike Adam and Sarah, you were never really born. You were created. But if you're referring to Sarah's old man he died two years ago," Robert told her. Jessi didn't say anything. She didn't agree with what Robert just said. She still thought of Sarah as her mother and for the short time that they knew each other she knew that Sarah saw her as a daughter.

"Anyway, I adopted Adam and raised him like he was my own son. Genetically speaking he was already my own son. I raised him and taught him as much as I could because I was confident that he would someday be the next Albert Einstein. And he easily could have too if he hadn't dedicated his life into creating another one like himself…" he said shaking his head with regret. "What a waste of potential…"

Jessi couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Hey! You're talking about your grandson here!" she said indignantly.

"It's okay Jessi," Kyle said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way," Robert said apologizing. "It's just that Adam and Sarah were the two most intelligent people on earth before you two were created. Adam could have become the greatest scientist the world has ever seen. He could have contributed so much to the scientific community…"

"Well I think he did contribute significantly by creating Kyle," Jessi countered with a slightly confrontational tone. "Everything that Kyle will do for the world in the near future is all thanks to your son creating him."

Robert saw how strongly Jessi was defending Kyle and smiled. "You two are awfully close aren't you?" he asked chuckling. "Yeah, Adam and Sarah were the same way. Although neither of them knew that the other was created by Latnok. We kept it from them. Even though we knew both of them since they were born the first time they actually met each other was in college. We wanted to study their interactions with each other when their minds were so similar. But Sarah didn't really like us studying her all the time like she was an experiment. She got tired of constantly pushing her limits to impress us. I think she tried to tell Adam everything but he could see that she was going down hill and didn't want to go down with her so he abandoned her when she needed him the most. It was something he regretted for the rest of his life. Having no one else to turn to, Sarah ran away from us."

"And now you continue to torment us like you tormented her proving that you learned absolutely nothing," Jessi sneered with disgust. She hated Latnok scientists even if they weren't actually evil. She hated their cold, unemotional, clinical point of view. All they cared about was getting all the data they could without any thought as to how their so called subject felt about it. Robert Baylin wasn't much different. The way he talked about them implied that he didn't see Kyle and her as real people who could have parents.

"Actually we did," Robert told her patiently. "We didn't want to lose Adam too so we began treating him like a fellow scientist and colleague instead of just an experiment. And with his intelligence he soon became one of our most important members. For reasons I will never understand he decided to restart the experiment to create another one like himself. But he didn't want to risk anymore lives so he invented those pods which were nothing but artificial wombs. He then created Kyle from his and Grace Kingsley's DNA and originally intended to take him out of the pod after a year of developing. But when the time came Zyzzyx was bought by Madacorp and they thought it would be more profitable if they kept Kyle in there. When Adam protested they tried to kill him and forced him into hiding. Some time during all this Jessi was created by Brian Taylor who used to be a Latnok scientist before we kicked him out for creating her. They both spent about sixteen years in the pod before they escaped. As a result they became much more powerful than Adam and Sarah. That's why they have all these superhuman abilities that Adam and Sarah didn't have."

Kyle, Jessi, Declan, and Foss already knew all of this but everyone else had their eyes fixed on the old man and were listening very intently. They were hearing this story for the first time and found it incredibly fascinating.

"So what were you doing back in the building?" Foss asked bringing everyone back to the present.

"We were looking for Cassidy. Originally, his job was simply to find new talent for us, like all you students here. He was much more ambitious though. One day he told us that he had everything he needed to do what Adam Baylin did and he was willing to sell us clones of Kyle. He used all you brilliant young people to rebuild Kyle's pod piece by piece without you even knowing about it since all those parts had other uses. And he had large quantities of fluid that Adam had stored. Luckily, Kyle stopped his first attempt by contaminating all the fluid but he tried again. You should know that the rest of Latnok, besides Grace Kingsley, had nothing to do with his plan."

"Maybe not, but I'm sure you were very eager to buy those clones from him," Jessi said looking at him accusingly.

Robert nodded. "We had no choice. Never mind the fact that it was a great scientific opportunity. We knew that if we didn't buy those clones, Cassidy would find certain other people to sell them to and we really didn't want them to end up in the wrong hands. But even though we told him we were going to pay millions of dollars, he decided to make even more money by selling them to the wrong people anyway. Eventually the government found out about it and realized how dangerous it could be. They contacted us and together we've been working together to find Cassidy. But after a while we decided to just follow you two around because we knew that you would find him much easier."

At this point Robert stopped talking and the young man named Perez nodded and continued the story, "We couldn't really arrest Cassidy because we, uh, have some embarrassing history concerning Kyle and Jessi that we really didn't want him telling anyone about. So we used you guys…"

"Wait, what do you mean you have some history concerning us?" Kyle interrupted him with his eyes narrowed.

Perez sighed. He really didn't want to explain this. He took a deep breath and said, "Okay but you're not going to like hearing this," he warned them. "So you know Zyzzyx was originally started by Adam Baylin, right? Once the government found out about what he was doing they became very interested in the possible applications of this research. But Adam Baylin didn't want anything to do with it. Two years down the road however, Adam ran into some financial difficulties and his company was bought by Madacorp. So we once again tried our luck with the new management and this time they agreed to deal with us. And, uh, I don't know how to say this but, we sort of told them that we didn't want you guys taken out of the pods," he confessed. He nervously watched as their expressions changed from suspicious to complete utter shock. Kyle and Jessi were speechless. They just stared at him with their mouths hanging open. Perez continued, "See even at such a young age your brains were like these incredibly advanced computers that don't even exist to this day. And your processing abilities only increased as you were getting older. They thought if they took you out of the pods you might one day lose interest in cooperating with them but as long as they kept you in there they could use you like a machine. You know that file in your head that Madacorp was after? There are a lot of government secrets in there. I don't even know what's in there. But somehow Kyle developed consciousness despite being in the pod and he stopped cooperating…" Kyle already knew the rest.

"So it's your fault!" he shouted angrily. "It's because of you guys that Jessi and I spent sixteen years in a coma and deprived of a regular childhood!"

"Well that's one way to look at it. But you can also thank us for all those amazing abilities that growing up in the pod gave you, right?" Perez said grinning. They didn't smile back. "Okay, calm down, I'm sorry you had to spend most of your life sleeping inside those things. Personally I don't agree with it either but all this happened before I joined the agency so it's not really my fault."

"And Cassidy knew about all this?" Jessi asked

"His mother did and she had proof of our involvement too. She threatened to tell everyone which is why we couldn't go after them. So we used you guys to find them and do all the fighting for us. Now that Grace Kingsley is dead, we've arrested Cassidy along with his side kick, Nate."

"And what about the rest of Latnok?" Foss asked.

"Robert's buddies are actually still good guys," Perez said. "Turns out Mrs. Kingsley was the only rotten apple in the tree."

"But still, the other senior members and I have decided that it's best we disbanded Latnok." Robert said. "We can't risk something like this happening again. Too much power eventually corrupts you. From now on Latnok will be nothing more than an organization for gifted students on university campuses. But we're going to stop with all these experiments."

"And Madacorp?" Emily asked.

"Unfortunately, we can't really do anything to Madacorp without some serious solid evidence. Cassidy is one guy but Madacorp is a huge multibillion dollar corporation. When you guys blew everything up on that basement, you destroyed all evidence of what Madacorp was letting Cassidy do. And although we did find Cassidy's computer, someone had already shot it up. All the data was destroyed."

"Yeah, that was my fault. My bad," Declan said sheepishly feeling very stupid for destroying their evidence.

Perez just shook his head. "Then I don't know how much we can do without any evidence. It'll be your word against theirs," he said to Mark and Jackie. "And they'll hire all the best lawyers and everything."

"By the way, there's something else I have to tell you guys about," he said turning to Kyle and Jessi. "See the thing is, we paid Madacorp millions of dollars keeping you both alive in those pods for sixteen years but we thought all that went down the drain when you two escaped. But after watching you we decided that you're even more valuable to us out of the pod because of all your abilities. So we'd like to see some return on our investment."

"What is that supposed mean?" Kyle demanded. "Your investment? You mean how you imprisoned us in that pod for almost all our life? You want us to repay you for that?"

Perez thought of a way to correct Kyle but he realized that what Kyle said was pretty much what the government wanted. He nodded his head and said, "Basically, yeah."

"Forget it. We'll never work for you. We're sick of people treating us like we're their property."

"Oh come on, Kyle. Working for us really isn't that bad," Perez tried to reason with him. "And we're not going to treat you like you're property either because we can actually pay you pretty good…" but Kyle and Jessi couldn't be enticed by money.

"Maybe you didn't hear him correctly but he said we're not interested," Jessi said in a low dangerous voice.

Perez was quiet for a few seconds as he thought of what to say. He knew he couldn't force Kyle and Jessi to come with him. "Okay, I'll inform my bosses of your decision," he said quietly. He got up to leave and began walking towards the door but suddenly it opened and there was Brian Taylor standing outside. Everyone stared at him surprised by his sudden visit.

"Hello, Jessi," he said walking inside. He nodded at everybody in there. "Kyle. Emily. Robert, haven't seen you in a while." He looked nervously at Foss who looked furious like he was going to beat the crap out of him any second now. "Hello Tom."

Like Foss, Jessi wasn't happy to see her father. "Brian. Let me guess, you're mad that we screwed up your scheme so now you're once again going to threaten to make things tough on our family."

"Like hell he is," Foss growled. Every person in the room was glaring at Taylor right now and making him feel quite unwelcome.

"Look Jessi, I didn't come here to fight or threaten anyone," he said. "I came here to make things right."

"Right. And how are you going to do that?" Jessi asked. He had already done way too much to lose her trust. He wasn't going to get it back so easily.

"I'm going to tell the police about all of Madacorp's illegal activities," Taylor declared. Everyone looked at him skeptically. At first no one believed he would do it because that meant he would go to jail since he was the Madacorp CEO. But Jessi and Kyle could tell when people were lying to them by listening to their heartbeats and for some reason Taylor seemed to be serious about it.

"You're just going to confess everything even though you'll go to jail, for a pretty long time?" Jessi asked cocking one eyebrow up. "Why would you do that?"

"Yesterday when I was coming in to work I met the Tragers' two kids. They were waiting for me in my parking spot. They told me that you believed that Sarah was murdered by Cassidy and you said were going to take revenge on him _without_ killing him. They were both convinced that you were going to allow Cassidy to kill you on camera or something like that so that he could get the legal punishment he never got for killing Sarah. That sounds exactly like the stupid thing that you would do so I immediately called up Cassidy and warned him not to kill you. But he told me that you were already in the building and he would do whatever he needed to do to protect himself. So I immediately flew down here but by the time I got here you guys were already done. I then assumed that some of you might be wounded so I went to the nearest hospital and that's how I found you."

"Cassidy killed Sarah?" Robert gasped. It greatly pained him to learn that Sarah had died. Out of everybody in the room he knew her the longest. "It can't be…"

"On Grace's orders apparently," Jessi told him grimly. She then turned to Taylor and asked, "Why would you even care if something happened to me? I was just your creation that you wanted to show off to Latnok so they'd let you back in."

"Yeah, I did treat you like that, didn't I?" Taylor admitted. "But that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I'm still your father."

"No you're not," Jessi corrected him. "Steven is."

Taylor nodded, "I understand why you would feel that way. You see, unlike Adam, I never really wanted a kid. My motive for creating you was purely profit. So when you escaped from the pod I didn't know what to do with you. But still, I am your genetic father and you do mean something to me. I don't know why your siblings thought you would do something like that though. How did you find out that Cassidy killed Sarah?"

Jessi looked like she was about to cry. "I used my holographic memory and saw a bunch of clues that I missed earlier. He killed my mother because she was going to interfere with his plan," she said with her voice almost breaking.

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Taylor said sympathetically. "She was a close friend of mine from my college days."

"And so was Adam yet you betrayed him," Foss pointed out.

"I know you all think I'm this bad guy but I'm not. I've just done some bad things that I now regret. I've betrayed my best friend out of greed. That's why I want to redeem myself. I'm going to turn myself in and tell the police everything that my company has been doing. No lawyer will be able to defend them when their CEO is admitting to everything."

Taylor looked at Jessi and said, "Even though we'll probably never see each other as father and daughter I hope we can someday reconcile."

Jessi nodded and said, "I'm happy that you're finally doing something good. Maybe I can visit you in jail now and then."

"Well, you just made my job a lot easier," Perez said. "Come with me, Mr. Taylor. Everyone else who plans to testify against Cassidy and Madacrop come with us." All the UW students began following the two of them outside.

Just before Mark left he turned to Jessi and said, "Hey, we'll catch up with you guys later, okay? Don't head back up to Seattle without us."

Jessi nodded and said, "Thanks for all your help Mark. Lori's really lucky to be dating someone like you." As much as he didn't want to, when Declan heard what she said he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Jessi noticed but didn't say anything.

Emily started smiling. "Wow. I'm amazed that Taylor would have the balls to do something like this," she said. "This is so unlike him. Guys are you sure he wasn't lying?" she asked Kyle and Jessi. They both shook their heads.

"I never thought that Taylor was one of the bad guys like Ballantine or Cassidy," Kyle commented. "He helped kick Adam out of Zyzzyx many years ago but he never told them where Adam was hiding. I guess he was just greedy."

Foss sighed and said, "I still don't forgive him for betraying Adam. I never will."

"He's quite an enigma," Robert said summing Taylor up.

"He was a lousy father but at least he helped me become stronger than Kyle in a much shorter training time," Jessi said. She waited for Kyle's response with a mischievous smile on her face.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Jessi, he didn't make you stronger than me. If anything he helped you catch up to me," he said.

"Actually I did become stronger than you. I learned how to move dry objects with my mind and how to heal cuts before you did," she replied very matter-of-factly.

Kyle pretended like that wasn't impressive at all. "A simple cut, so what? I managed to heal Andy's cancer. And I also learned how to control electric current before you did," he bragged playfully.

"No you didn't. When I used to live with Emily and she made me upset I used to make the lights flicker in brightness. Just ask her. And as for the healing part, I just healed massive damage to your vital organs that would have otherwise been fatal. I'm clearly more advanced than you because I developed all my abilities in a much shorter time than you…" Robert observed their interaction with great interest. They reminded him of Adam and Sarah so much…

"Jessi, isn't it weird that Lori and Josh would think you would allow yourself to be killed by Cassidy on camera?" Declan asked suddenly interrupting their game. He was looking at Jessi with a very serious expression. It made sense to him now. She did say goodbye to everybody like she would never see them again and she did tell him to be ready to record her on camera when he was in that room even though she never explained why.

"Yes. It is weird," Jessi simply said. She uncomfortably avoided eye contact with him because she knew that Declan put the pieces together but she didn't want to talk about it so everyone else would find out. But Kyle heard hear heart beat faster.

_You actually considered doing it didn't you?_ Kyle asked telepathically so the others couldn't hear.

Jessi sighed. _Yes. I considered it but I decided not to _she told him.

_What changed your mind?_

_I thought about how bad I felt when I learned that Sarah died and I thought it would be a terrible thing for me to do since you all would feel the same way. I didn't want to do that to you guys._

Kyle looked devastated. _I can't believe how close I came to losing you. And I can't believe I didn't realize this when Lori and Josh did. I'm supposed to be the one who knows you better than anyone else. _

Jessi put her hand on his shoulder consolingly._ You didn't realize it because I did my best to keep it from you. But I told Lori and Josh things that would make anybody suspicious. I thanked Josh for tolerating me and thanked Lori for being a good sister so of course they would have recognized the signs. But I made it much less obvious with you._

Kyle wasn't satisfied with that explanation though. _You convinced me to break Steven and Nicole's rule by saying it could be our last night together. And you said you were going to prove that Cassidy is a murderer. I should have been able to put those clues together. I'm sorry Jessi. I failed you_ he thought sadly.

Robert, Foss, Emily, and Declan observed their faces as they communicated without their voices. "What are they doing?" Robert asked.

"They don't want us to know that Jessi is suicidal so they're talking telepathically so the rest of us can't hear," Declan told him loud enough for Kyle and Jessi to hear him. All the adults gave Jessi looks of concern.

"Declan, Jessi would never do something like that," Kyle said defending her. "She would never put us through that kind of pain. I thought you knew her better than that." Jessi smiled at him gratefully.

"Whatever. I'm just glad she changed her mind," Declan muttered. He knew Kyle was covering for her but Jessi didn't go through with it so he was willing to forget about it.

Robert looked impressed. "Telepathic communication? That's incredible. Not even Adam and Sarah were able to do that. I can't wait to tell the others about…" he stopped talking when he noticed Jessi looking at him with a little disdain. "You don't like me very much do you Jessi?" he asked her.

"I'm going to be honest. No I don't like you. You seem exactly like the typical Latnok scientist that my mother told me about," she answered him coldly. "You people would do anything in the name of research. I remember when you kidnapped Amanda just to test Kyle."

"But I promise you we didn't harm her at all," Robert said in his defense.

"That's not the point!" Kyle said fiercely. "You have no idea what you put me through that night!"

"But that was the whole purpose of the test," Robert told him. "We wanted to test your abilities when you were stressed out."

"In other words Jessi and I are like lab rats to you. But not just us, I guess you view everyone outside your organization that way too. You just used Amanda for your ridiculous test without giving her a choice in the matter." Kyle said finally understanding that even the 'good' guys like Robert Baylin were still Latnok scientists that Sarah had described to him the day he met her.

Robert sighed defeatedly. "Alright Kyle, it's any comfort to you no one from Latnok will ever bother you again because after tonight Latnok is going to be officially disbanded. Perez's people might still give you problems though."

"He can go to hell," Jessi spat contemptuously. "I'll never work for the same people who kept us in the pods."

"Unfortunately we can't really take him out of the picture because he works for the government," Foss said. "We'll have to wait and see what happens but you two might have to go into hiding and get new identities. Maybe even leave the country."

"I'm tired of living like this. Can't Jessi and I just live a normal life?" Kyle asked frustratedly.

"You remember what told you that day right?" Foss said reminding him of their previous conversation when he told him that his life would probably never be normal and people would always be after him just because of what he was.

"Okay fine. But we still don't know what Perez's people are going to do. I want to wait for their answer before just running away and leaving my life behind."

Declan nodded. "So you just want to cross that bridge when it comes," he said.

Kyle nodded but Jessi looked confused. "Bridge? What Bridge?" she asked.

"Just an expression, Jessi," Declan said right before he yawned. Every one of them even Kyle and Jessi was feeling pretty tired from everything that they did. It had been a really long night but it was finally over.

"You should all go back and get some sleep," Jessi told them. "I'll stay here with Kyle." She said this despite being even more tired than everyone else. She and Kyle had overused their abilities several times that night and desperately needed some rest.

"Actually I think I'm ready to check out," Kyle said. He got off the bed and stood up. "Foss, could you get the nurse and tell her that I'm completely healed?"

"How are we going to explain that to the doctor?" Foss asked Emily as they both headed out of the room together.

"Who cares?" she replied nonchalantly. "Let's just get out of here…" she didn't even care that people outside would see her. Soon the truth about Madacorp would be out and everyone would know that she was simply trying to stop them. She would get her life back and finally see her daughter again.

"Kyle man, you okay?" Declan asked his friend. They didn't share a telepathic connection but he could sense that Kyle was very depressed about something despite completing his mission that he cared about so much. He had a pretty good idea of what it was. "You want to talk outside?" he asked. Kyle nodded and they both went outside leaving Jessi and Robert inside alone.

"Jessi, my dear, I'm sorry for what I said earlier about you not really having parents. I didn't realize that you saw Sarah as…" Robert's voice trailed off as Declan closed the door behind him.

"Kyle, it's not your fault," Declan said. "You can't blame yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Kyle asked in denial.

"You know what I'm talking about. You can't blame yourself for not knowing about Jessi's plan."

"Of course I can!" Kyle almost shouted. "I'm the one who is supposed to know her better than anyone else. We have a telepathic connection! There is no excuse why I let that get past me especially when Josh and Lori were able to find out. Even you realized it before me…"

"Kyle, I only found out like a second before you did and that's only because of what she said to me earlier when I was in that room. She said she wanted me to be ready to record her when she tells me to. She didn't really say for what though."

"I failed her, Declan," Kyle said miserably. "I came so close to losing her and I didn't even know it. Imagine if she actually did it. I wouldn't have saved her because I was so blind I didn't see the signs. She actually told me to be prepared incase she didn't come back…and I yelled at her! I told her she was being annoying, can you believe that?"

Declan wished he could say something to make Kyle feel better but he felt pretty guilty about it as well. He wanted to be there for his friend so he thought of some positive message. "Well…I guess…now that it's already done…there's no point feeling bad about it…I guess…all we can do now…is…learn from our mistakes?" he awkwardly said.

But Kyle looked at him like he just said something brilliant. Declan continued more confidently, "Next time Jessi, or anyone, says stuff like that we should probably pay more attention and not just tell them to shut up. Don't you think?"

Kyle nodded. "You're right. I'm so lucky she decided not to do it though. I can't even imagine what it would be like, losing her. After everything that we've been through together, going back to being the only one of my kind again…" He sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"It would suck," Declan said understandingly. "But you know what, that didn't happen. Jessi is still alive and you should be extremely happy about that and the fact that you finally finished all this bullshit with Cassidy," he said. "Now you guys can finally concentrate on your relationship instead of worrying about all this other stuff."

"I love her…" Kyle said dreamily.

"I know," Declan said. "You know what, I think I'll do you guys a favor and sleep in my car tonight."

Kyle looked confused. "Why?" he asked. He didn't understand how that would be a favor to him and Jessi.

Declan shrugged. "Just incase you guys might want the bed," he said.

"But you're supposed to sleep in the bed," Kyle said still not getting where Declan was going with this. "Jessi and I are comfortable sleeping in the tub. You don't have to sleep in your car."

"Yeah, Kyle, but the bed might be more comfortable than the tub for certain other things besides sleeping," Declan said patiently.

Finally Kyle got it. He laughed. "No, I don't think we'll be doing that tonight. We're way too tired."

"Yeah maybe now you are. But I know you guys don't sleep nearly as long as the rest of us. What happens when you guys wake up in the bathtub in three hours feeling completely rested and you have nothing to do for the next three or four hours because everyone else, including Foss, is going to be fast asleep?" Declan asked.

"After everything we did tonight, Jessi and I are going to rest a lot longer than three hours but thanks anyway. I really appreciate that you would do that for me."

"No problem man. That's what friends are for."

**I've made a mistake…I thought the show takes place over two years because I thought each season was like a different year. I got confused when Kyle went to live with Baylin for some time. I thought that was in the summer and when he came back that was a new school year. But the whole show takes place in just one year. So this means everyone is a year younger than I thought so of course Kyle and Jessi can't go to UW now I'm going to have to edit the whole freaking story…this sucks…anyway let me know how this chapter was. **


	35. Chapter 35

**It's been like two months, I know. But I go to school, and have a job and a girlfriend so it's kind of hard to find time to write this. I'm sure other authors are in the same situation because they don't update nearly as much as they used to either. So anyway, it's been a while so my writing skills probably went down. **

Flashback…

A young and handsome man sat alone in a cafeteria full of several other people. While the rest of them ate and conversed with their co-workers, the young man was concentrating very intently on some notes and sketches in front of him. Every now and then he would erase something and make some changes to the drawings, or do some calculations in his head and write it down. No one else bothered him. They all greatly respected and admired him even though he was much younger than almost everyone there.

A very attractive woman, who looked a few years older than him, got up from her table and walked up behind him. "You look awfully busy," she remarked in a British accent. Upon hearing her voice, the man smiled and turned around. There were few people whom we would consider his friends and this woman was definitely one of them. "May I join you?" she asked.

"Yes, you may join me," he said making fun of how formally she said it. She smiled and sat next to him. "Where were you all day?" he asked. "I really need your input on something."

"Oh, Michael got into another fight in school today so I had to pick him up," she answered rolling her eyes. She sighed. "The poor boy takes after his father you see. I was hoping that one day he would follow in my footsteps and become a scientist but now I'm not sure he has the I.Q. for that. I've decided to send him off to a boarding school back home in London," she said with a thin smile. "He'll be out of my hands and hopefully they'll beat some discipline into that brat. So anyway, what did you need my input on?"

"Let me show you," the man said eagerly. He showed her all his notes and sketches. The woman looked over them but it was incomprehensible to her.

"I don't understand. What are these things?" she asked pointing to the drawings.

"They're gestation tanks. They're like artificial wombs," he said excitedly. "You'll be able to conceive and grow a human being in there until they're ready for birth. I'm also working on a type of fluid that will fill the tank and provide them with all the nourishment they need. Once the baby is developed enough for birth you simply take it out of the tank. The mother doesn't even have to be involved in the process besides donating her egg cells. Do you realize what we can use these for?"

"I don't know. Helping couples that can't naturally have children?" she guessed. She didn't see what was so interesting about that.

"No. I'm talking about trying the whole experiment over again. This time, with the bio tanks, no one has to die."

"What on earth are you talking about?" she asked feeling very confused. "What experiment, and what do you mean no one will die?"

He sighed impatiently. "I'm talking about the original experiment to increase human intelligence. You know the experiment that resulted in my birth."

She stayed silent for a few seconds as everything he said began to sink in. She stared at him in astonishment and disbelief. "You're actually serious about this aren't you? Have you gone mad? The senior members would never allow such a thing! And you don't have the authority to do these kinds of experiments without their permission. You're not even a member! Even if you are smarter than all of them…"

"But you're a member," he said. "Please. I need you to try and convince them to at least…"

"Listen to me," she cut him off. "People died last time. Now I admit that I'm actually intrigued by this idea of yours but matter how hard I try to convince them, the senior members will never want to take a risk like that again. Does your father know about this?" she asked.

"No, he doesn't know yet and I know he would never approve. But no one will have to risk anything this time," he said. "That's what the tanks are for. Just give me a month or so and I'll have a prototype ready. I already have two people helping me with this."

"Who's that?" she asked.

"One of my professors from UW. Professor Kurn. I've been working with him for a while now. And the other is my friend Brian Taylor. All we need is Latnok's support and some money."

She thought about it and looked back down at the sketches of the tanks. He smiled because he could see that he was beginning to win her over. He would never be able to do this without her help. "Alright, I'll try my best to convince them. But can I ask you a question? Why of all reasons do you want to do this?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Maybe if this experiment turns out to be successful, I can adopt the child as my own, the way my father did to me. Because I'm tired of being alone. I don't want to be the only one of my kind anymore. I want to have somebody like me. Somebody who thinks like me, who sees the world the way I do."

"But I thought you said that Sarah was like you," she said. "You're always bragging how smart and amazing she is. How are things between the two of you by the way?"

He looked down sadly. "I thought she was like me," he said. "But she's been acting really weird lately. She scares me with her erratic behavior. I seriously think she might be mentally ill."

"Interesting," she simply said and went back to looking at the notes.

"You know, I think you're onto something here, and I'd really like to help you out. This idea of yours has enormous potential. But we won't be able to convince Latnok without actually building one of these, these pods, or whatever you call them. We need to have a fully functional prototype before we talk to them."

"You just leave that to me," he said smiling gratefully. "Thank you so much for your support. I knew I could count on you."

Many years later...

Kyle lay in the tub thinking about all the events that happened yesterday. _It's over now. Everything is going to be okay _he kept telling himself. _Why am I still worried? _His mother was dead, his brother in jail, Latnok was disbanded, and Madacorp was about to get screwed big time. That last part was completely unexpected. Nobody thought Brian Taylor would confess everything. But there was still something that could screw this almost perfect moment up. It was that guy Agent Perez.

Kyle doubted his bosses would just take no for an answer. _How can they think I owe them when I spent sixteen years of my life in a coma because of them?_ Kyle wondered. It was completely unfair. They should be the one who owed him but he wasn't looking for any compensation from them. He just wanted to be left alone so he and Jessi could live an ordinary life like Adam told him to. The thing about these guys though, was that unlike Zyzzyx, Madacorp, or Latnok, they couldn't really fight back against them. This was the government. They could easily make them look like the bad guys and turn the whole country against them.

"It'll be like what they did with Jason Bourne," Jessi said suddenly. Kyle didn't expect her to be awake. She must have gone into his mind and seen what he was thinking even though he told her countless times not to do that. He still never got mad because he liked having someone he had nothing to hide from.

"You're awake," he said happily. He was up for at least an hour just thinking so he was glad to have some company. "But who's Jason Bourne?"

"I watched these movies with Josh," she explained. "They're all about this former CIA assassin named Jason Bourne who is really good at fighting and killing. But on one of his missions, he loses his memory. First he tries to find out who he is and then when he realizes he used to be an assassin he just wants to quit and live a normal life but they won't leave him alone because they don't want anyone else knowing what he knows. So they keep sending guys to kill him."

"What happens to him?" Kyle asked. He didn't really care because it was just a fictional movie but he just wanted to keep the conversation going with her.

"Well at the end of the first movie, he beats up and kills a bunch of them and warns the others not to come after him. He then runs away to India with his girlfriend. But in the beginning of the second movie, they find him and try to kill him but end up killing his girlfriend instead." Jessi stopped here. She tried to put herself in that situation. Kyle could tell what she was thinking about without even seeing her thoughts because he was thinking the same thing.

"That's not going to happen to us," he tried to assure her.

"Why is it that when we defeat somebody, someone else just replaces them? Why do all these people want to mess with our lives?" she asked.

"I know, it sucks," Kyle agreed. "But this is our life, Jessi. This is the price we have to pay for being able to do what we can do. It's like Foss said. We can never have an ordinary life because we're not ordinary. As much as I don't want to accept that, as much as I still wish I was ordinary, I know I have to get used to the truth."

Jessi turned around and looked him in the eye. Her brown eyes were really big. Kyle wasn't used to seeing her so scared. She always acted tough, even when she was feeling afraid, she never showed it. "Kyle, what if try to kill us both but only kill one of us like in the movie?" she asked. She wasn't scared about herself. She was scared that they might kill Kyle and she would be all alone. Kyle could understand that fear because last night he came so close to losing her because of her stupid plan that she thankfully decided not to follow. "What if they take you away from me?"

"Jessi, I promise you. I won't let anyone separate us like that," he said fiercely. "And if they send anyone after us, we'll go straight to their headquarters building, wherever it is, and beat them down so hard they won't even think about sending someone else." It felt weird talking like that but he hoped he sounded strong enough for Jessi. He must have been convincing because slowly the fear began leaving her eyes.

"Yes. You're right," she said nodding in agreement. "But we have to train hard Kyle. We have to become as strong as possible. Otherwise they'll still be able to hurt us. It's the only way. I know Adam wanted you to take a break from training and live an ordinary life but let's face it, your life since then hasn't been very ordinary has it? It's because all these other people like Cassidy and this new guy will never let us live an ordinary life."

"Okay. But let's not think about any of that for now," he said. "We just did something remarkable. We should be feeling really proud and happy about what we accomplished."

"You're right," she agreed. "Let's not talk about it anymore. What do you want to do now?"

Kyle shrugged. "I don't know. The others are probably still sleeping. Do you want to go for a run outside?"

"I have a better idea," Jessi said. "Do you remember what I said earlier about what I always do before a mission? How I always think of a way to reward myself for completing it? Well the mission is over and it's time to get my reward."

"Oh. Okay," he said smiling. He agreed that it was a better idea than running. He leaned forward cupped her cheek and slowly kissed her. Jessi eagerly accepted the kiss. She slowly tried leaning back against the wall on her side of the tub, pulling him with her but accidentally bumped her head on the faucet. "Ouch!" The bathtub wasn't exactly the best place for this. She and Kyle laughed it off and switched to other side with Kyle leaning and Jessi on top. Their kisses quickly became longer and more passionate as they struggled to get into a more comfortable position. _I should have accepted Declan's offer_ Kyle thought be he didn't really care as he felt a very pleasurable electric charge run through his body. It was good that all the lights were off. Their hands blindly fumbled with each other's clothing trying to pull off whatever they could without interrupting their kissing. They had both waited so long for this. But then, in the worst timing possible, Kyle's cellphone on the side of the tub began ringing.

Both of them groaned with annoyance. "Just ignore it," Kyle said.

"It's probably just our family calling to see if we're okay," Jessi said as she reached for the ringing phone. "We'll just tell them that everyone's okay and we're busy right now," When she saw the caller I.D. however her blood ran cold and her expression became serious. She showed it to Kyle. "It's a private number." Of course they both knew who it was.

Kyle took the phone from her and answered it. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Obviously it was Perez. "Kyle, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Kyle thought it was best not to say anything. "First things first, you can tell Ms. Hollander that all charges against her are dropped and she can have her life back again."

"Thank you for that," Kyle said. "Is that wanted to tell me?"

"You probably know this already but my bosses weren't too happy with your decision," Perez told him. Jessi could hear what he was saying with her enhanced hearing.

"Well I'm sorry they feel that way but our decision stands. Jessi and I will never work for you and there's really nothing you can do about it," he calmly said.

Jessi grabbed the phone from him. "And if you guys try to come after us, we'll find you and we'll take this fight to your doorstep just like Jason Bourne!" she warned. Immediately Perez burst out laughing hysterically. There were several voices in the background that also roared with laughter. He probably had them on speaker with other agents in the room.

Kyle sighed. He held out his hand and said, "Maybe I should just talk to them." Jessi shook her head. She didn't care if they laughed at her.

"Jessi, I didn't know you liked to watch action movies," Perez said after he caught his breath. "But you know they're completely fictional, right?"

"Yes I know that," she replied with a smirk. "But Kyle and I are real. Our superhuman abilities are very real. If you continue to bother us, then I swear I will find you just like I found Cassidy. You can laugh at me all you want now because I guarantee you won't be laughing when I have my hand around your throat and I'm dangling out the window of whatever office building you're hiding in."

There was no laughter this time. "Look, Jessi, no one is going to come after you," Perez said trying not to sound nervous. "We don't want to bother you guys."

"Good," Jessi said satisfied. "Then you can start by not calling us anymore."

"Jessi, will you just please listen to me?" Perez said exasperatedly. "Look, we don't want to force you to do anything. Every time someone treats you like you're their property, you both end up rebelling against them and we don't want that to happen with us. We want you to work for us on your own free will. We'll treat you much better than Madacorp, Jessi. Trust me, these guys pay a lot. I would know."

"No, I don't think you understand," Jessi said. "It's not about how you're going to treat us like. It's about what you already did. You people stole our childhood. Because of you I never got to experience the first sixteen years of my life."

"But look at what we gave you!" Perez argued. "We're the reason you have all those amazing abilities that helped you survive last night. Hell, I would gladly trade my mediocre childhood to be like you."

"You only think like that because you're ordinary," Jessi replied. "It's not that great, you know, being like us. We have to deal with all these people like you, who want to exploit us for their own purposes and they never seem to get the message when we tell them we're not interested."

"Jessi, just think of all the contributions you and Kyle can make to the world. Just think of all the lives you'll save from starvation or disease in places like Africa or wherever. Kyle, I know you're also listening in on this, but don't you think all those lives are worth sixteen years of your own life? If you don't then maybe you're not the selfless person I thought you were."

"Don't you dare make him feel like that!" Jessi shouted fiercely. "When you guys kept us in those pods, you weren't thinking about how we would one day help all these people. You just wanted to use us like some kind of sick human computer!" She hung up and turned off the phone and looked at Kyle who nodded approvingly.

Back in Washington D.C. Perez shook his head defeatedly as he tried to call them again but found that they turned off their phones. "Well they're pretty set on not cooperating with us," he said to another man. "Do you want me to bring them in by force?"

"That's okay. We don't need them as long as we have samples of their DNA," the other man replied. "It's time to implement our other plan. Contact that other young man and offer him a deal to get out of prison. I think he can be of great use to us."

**It's been a really long time since I wrote so I can understand if it's not as good as the other chapters. I wanted to include a flashback scene showing a young Adam and Grace back before she became corrupted by her own power. Also this story is pretty much done and I'm setting the stage for my next story. I think next chapter will be the last one. Let me know how it was.**


	36. Chapter 36

**This was much faster to write than the last one. This is the final chapter. **

There was a time when Jessi was brutally blunt and straightforward. There was a time when she just spit out the first thought that came to her mind. But by now, she had learned how to be tactful. So she pulled Declan to the side where no one could hear them. "Okay, now that Lori has seen your 'heroic battle scars', will you let me heal your face?" she asked.

Somewhere underneath all that purple, Declan's face turned a little red. "What are you talking about? Lori doesn't have anything to do with it," he scoffed. But Jessi knew hat wasn't true. When they were back in Arizona, both she and Kyle had offered to heal his face numerous times, which had taken quite a pounding from Nate's skull. But Declan refused. He called his bruises 'battle scars' and insisted on keeping them so that everyone back home would know that he contributed too. Jessi had seen how happy he looked when Lori was fawning over him.

"Look, I can hear your heart beating faster," she reminded him. "Is it really necessary for me to have to tell you that?"

Declan sighed defeatedly. "I can't hide anything from you guys. It sucks!" he complained as she put her hands on his face and concentrated. In just a few seconds the swelling went down and his face was completely healed. It reminded him of the time when Jessi tried healing his ankle but couldn't do it all the way and the pain only came back. He hoped his bruises wouldn't come back later that night. "Wow. Thanks Jessi, that feels a lot better."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time," she said gritting her teeth. "And I don't know why you continue to try and impress Lori when she's not into you anymore. She chose Mark. You're stupid for even trying." She knew that sounded too harsh but it was for his own good. He needed some tough love and Jessi was the expert on telling it like it is, even if she was much more tactful now days.

But Declan didn't get mad. He knew how to get her back. "Oh, but didn't you do the same thing when Kyle was with Amanda?" he asked grinning coyly.

That certainly got her flustered. Declan watched with amusement as her face turned red. He just hoped she wouldn't lose her temper and throw him into a car again. But she went on the defensive. "No…I mean…I never…I didn't…but that was different!" she protested.

Declan laughed. "Different? Really? How is that any different? Remember that time when we all helped Amanda sneak out of the house and you ruined the whole thing by telling her mom?" he reminded her. "That's right, Amanda told us all about that. At least I never tried to sabotage Lori and Mark."

"Nice!" Josh laughed coming up behind them. He gave Declan a hi fi. He then turned to Jessi and said, "You just got owned!" Jessi couldn't say anything to defend herself because Declan was right. She was so embarrassed by her past behavior. Even though her personality hadn't changed much since then she would never again stoop that low.

"Alright, let's not be too mean," Declan said to Josh with a satisfied smirk on his face. "I think she got the point."

"Okay, I was wrong," she said looking down and feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry for being a hypocrite. I guess it's only natural for us to feel attracted to people even when we know we can't have them. I finally got Kyle but I was lucky. You really should make things easier on yourself and get another girl instead of waiting for Lori. Jackie still likes you."

Declan wasn't sure what to think about Jackie. He was still mad at her for dumping him because she wasn't looking for commitment when she was the one who approached him at that party. But he still had feelings for her as well. But he didn't want an on and off casual relationship. He had his fill of that in high school. Now it was time for something serious.

"Anyway, shouldn't you go home and tell your dad that you're okay?" Jessi suggested. She didn't mind but ever since they got back to Seattle he was just hanging around the Tragers' house when his dad could have been worried sick about him.

"Nah, he's not even home," Declan replied. "Besides, I called him. Told him that I'm going down to Phoenix to party with some friends of mine that are in college down there. You know what he said? He said, be careful and don't drink and drive, and then he hung up. I tell him I'm taking the car and driving to Phoenix, hundreds of miles away, and he doesn't even give a crap. That's my dad for you." He laughed bitterly.

"Dude, cry me a river," Josh said rolling his eyes. "I don't know what the hell you're complaining about. I wish my parents could be like that." Jessi thought he sounded a little too insensitive even though she agreed with Josh.

"No Trager," Declan said shaking his head. "You don't know what you're saying. Trust me, you're parents are perfect. You don't know how good you guys have it."

Jessi went deep into thought. _I can't understand why Declan would have a problem with his dad_._ I would enjoy that kind of freedom._ _But maybe that's because I was raised differently_ she reasoned. When she lived with Emily she had completely control over her. She didn't allow Jessi to date, or go to social gatherings, or do anything that might have distracted her from Madacorp's mission. As a result, Jessi came to resent any form of control and became completely independent. When she moved in with the Tragers, Steven and Nicole found it difficult to adjust to her habit of leaving the house in the middle of the night and coming back when she felt like it. She actually felt a little annoyed that they should worry like that because she was a responsible person.

Declan's situation was different though. He came from the other extreme. She once heard him telling Kyle that his father never came to any of his basketball games after his freshmen year. Of course he loved his son. He was just probably very busy with his job; after all, their family was quite rich. And Declan never talked about it but his relationship with his father was obviously strained. And from what he just said, he seemed to resent the fact that his father wasn't concerned about him the way Steven and Nicole were concerned every time she left the house at night.

She decided it was best to change the subject to a happier one. "So what car did you buy?" she asked Josh.

"I didn't buy one yet," he said.

"Because you can't decide on which one to buy?" she guessed. "Well for $20K I recommend a…"

"Jessi," he interrupted her while looking at her like she was a moron for not understanding, "it's not because I couldn't decide on which car to buy. It's because my brother and sister were fighting people with guns, who could have potentially killed them. That's all I've been thinking about for the past two days. That's all anyone in this house has been thinking about. We were all scared for you."

"Oh," she said sheepishly. She didn't even know how he found out about the mission. She only told Lori. Maybe Lori told him or maybe he heard it from Kyle.

Just then Lori came into the living room looking frantic with Mark following her. Her face was white with fear. _Mark must have told her about the cameras _Jessi realized. She was right. "Josh, get this. Mark said that Cassidy came into our house and planted cameras all over the place and he's been spying on us for I don't even know how long! I can totally picture that sick creep watching me undressing," she shuddered at the thought.

Josh's eyes widened. "What? Are you serious? He did that?" he asked Mark.

"Well, he really did put cameras all over the place but don't worry, I don't think he was spying on you guys, or watching Lori," Mark said. "He just did it to make a point. He wanted to prove how easily he came into your house and you had no idea. He wanted to show me how easily he could kill all you guys and you wouldn't even see him coming."

Lori's face became even more pale. "Okay you just told us something that's a whole lot worse. Why the hell would you start of by telling us not to worry?" she asked. Mark didn't know how to respond to that so he awkwardly stayed silent. Jessi tried not to smile because she didn't want to have fun at their expense. It didn't surprise her that Lori would be freaking out like this. She knew her sister must be feeling so vulnerable right now. _It must be a terrible feeling to just realize that you're not safe in your own home _she thought. Jessi didn't grow up her whole life thinking that her home was a safe haven so she didn't have that problem of facing reality.

"Why don't we find all the cameras and get rid of them?" Declan suggested hoping to calm her down.

Everyone agreed that it was a good all fanned out looking for a camera in the living room but none of them had any idea what to look for. "It obviously won't look like a camera," Jessi told them. "That would be too obvious. It must be really small, too small to be noticed unless you're looking at it up close. So it would be attached somewhere where the Tragers are unlikely to look at close up. And it would also be attached to something the Tragers are unlikely to move." She gazed around the room and spotted a clock on the wall. As she made her way towards it to inspect it she heard Steven and Kyle talking in the kitchen.

"When I got that call from the hospital telling me that you'd been shot, I never felt so scared in my life," Steven was saying. "Ever since you told me how dangerous this mission could be I was petrified that something like this would happen. And it did. Thank god, she managed to heal you in time. That's all I can say," he choked out. Steven would never actually cry in front of Kyle but Jessi could tell from his voice that he was close to it.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through," Kyle apologized sincerely. He truly hated making his family worry about him like that. "But I hope you realize that what I did was necessary and even if I didn't come back, it still would have been worth it just because we stopped Cassidy." Of course Kyle would say something like that_. Noble Kyle, always so selfless, always putting others before himself_ she thought smiling. That was one of the reasons she loved him, ever since he tried to bring her back that time when she ran away from Emily even though it put him at odds with his family.

"Well, that's something I'll never agree with you on as a father but I'm just glad this whole thing is finally over." There was a small pause after which Steven said, "Of course, that's what I said last time, when Cassidy broke into our house and attacked you." It only got worse after that night. And Steven, Kyle, and Jessi knew that it was probably not over this time either. At least with the two of them living in UW, whatever happened to them wouldn't involve their families as long as they didn't know about it. Unless of course they tried to use their family members to get to them the way Latnok kidnapped Amanda.

Jessi took the clock down from the wall and looked at it. Just as she suspected. It was so small that no one would have noticed it. "Hey guys, I found one," she told them. Immediately they all went over to her to see.

"That's a camera?" Josh said sounding surprised. No one besides Jessi and Mark expected it to be so small and look nothing like a typical camera.

"Well, at least now we know what to look for," Declan said. "Good job Jessi. I'm not even going to bother to ask how you found it." It was so small that he picked it up with only two fingers. He dropped it on the floor and crushed it under his shoe. "One down and how many more to go?" he asked Mark.

"Uh, I think there was like ten or twelve," Mark answered. "I don't remember exactly how many screens I saw. I think there's one in each room and hallway."

"Let's do my room now," Lori said impatiently. It was understandable that she'd want her room to be safe and secure as soon as possible. Her room was supposed to be a place where she could have privacy, from her brother and her parents, while she and Hillary or other friends gossiped about whatever they wanted. The fact that someone was watching her in there was just sickening to her.

"Trager, don't you think we should do the whole downstairs first before moving up?" Declan suggested. Jessi didn't follow them to the next room. She walked into the kitchen to join Steven and Kyle.

Kyle was in the middle of telling Steven about the new possible threat. "He said he didn't want to force us into anything. He said he wanted us to work for them on our own free will. We hung up on him."

"Good! You were smart not to believe him," Steven said feeling very proud of them. "Because if you remember, Cassidy told you the same exact thing when he was trying to get you to join that junior Latnok program at UW. And look what he turned out to be." He then turned to Jessi who had just come up beside him. He hugged her tightly and said, "I am so glad we brought you into this family. You saved his life. I can't thank you enough for that."

"He saved mine too," Jessi told him. "I got shot too but the body armor managed to stop it and it only knocked the wind out. I was on the floor trying to get my breath back with bullets flying over my head when Kyle dragged me to safety. So I guess I owed him." She smiled at Kyle who smiled back.

Steven let out a whistle and shook his head. "Wow. It must have been like a warzone in there," he exclaimed. "I'm just glad you two are alright," he said hugging them both. When he let them go he looked at them seriously and said, "Nicole still doesn't know. All she knows is that you went after Cassidy but she thinks it was more of a sneaking around kind of job not full on gunfights. She doesn't know you got shot. And you're not going to tell her, got that? I don't want her to know how close she came to losing you two. Understand?" Kyle and Jessi both nodded.

"Hey Jessi, are you going to help us out or what?" Josh's yelled from another room.

"I have to go and help them," she said and excused herself "Well I better go pick Nicole up from the airport," Steven said and left leaving Kyle all alone. Kyle didn't even know that Nicole had gone somewhere but he didn't bother to ask where. . Kyle contemplated whether to tell Nicole about her suicidal plan with Cassidy, after all she was a shrink, but decided that it was one of those things that you just forget about and never mention again. Just like his killing of Grace's body guard. The whole team knew he did it, they clearly saw the body, but no one had brought it up with him. They understood that he did what he had to do and just left it at that. He felt grateful toward them for being so understanding.

He felt his phone vibrating. He looked at it and to his surprise he saw that it was Emily calling him.

Now that the government knew that she was only helping them take Cassidy down, they gave her a free pass on the whole Madacorp break in. He answered the phone, "Hey, Emily. What's up?"

"I'm just calling to see how you guys are doing," she said. This surprised Kyle. Once they got back to Seattle they thanked her for her help and parted ways. He didn't think she would still be concerned about how they were doing. Perhaps the whole experience had bonded the five of them together. When Emily reintroduced herself, he, like everyone else, felt nothing but hostility towards her, but he was willing to give her a second chance. And she had definitely redeemed herself in his eyes.

"We're doing alright," he told her. "Jessi and I are about to go to UW in two days so that's on our minds." Actually he hadn't even thought about UW until now. His mind was focusing on all the less happy things.

"Nice," she said. "College is going to be one of the best times in your life. Trust me. You're going to make some great friends and connections that you'll keep in touch with for the rest of your life."

"How about you? Did society accept you back?" he asked.

She laughed at how he phrased the question. "Yeah Kyle. Once it came out on the news that I was secretly working for the government, yeah," she said sounding relieved. "Of course I really wasn't and they were just using us. My neighbors keep asking me questions. They want to know the whole story but I told them it's classified. And now that Madacorp's in the spotlight I have to find a new job." She paused for a bit and then added, "You know, that Perez character has a lot of nerve thinking that you owe them for keeping you in a pod for all those years. But at least he gave me my life back. So he can't be all bad in my eyes."

"I never thought he was a bad guy," Kyle said. "He's just an employee doing his job. The people he works for are the real bad guys. I don't have anything against the man personally but I'll never work for his organization."

There was a short silence after which Emily asked, "Did you hear from them again?"

"No," Kyle told her. He wondered what they were up to. "The last time we talked was in Arizona."

"Well, in any case, watch your back," Emily advised him. "I doubt these people would just give up like that. I know they said they weren't going to force you but for all you know they might have a machine like the one we had in Madacorp. They could erase all your memories and give you a whole new life so you'll willingly work for them."

That was a very real possibility. They could ambush him and Jessi take them to some facility where they had their memories wiped. If they didn't know who they really were, they probably would just blindly obey orders. It was too terrible for him to think about. He sighed. "Emily, please don't take this the wrong way, but you're really lucky that there's nothing extraordinary about you," he said. It might have sounded a little rude but Emily knew what he meant. Being unusual made you a target. Everyone who envied him and Jessi had no idea how good they had it. He longed to be ordinary too.

"I know, Kyle. Hey, if ever need anything, just give me a call. If you guys are ever in serious need of money, and I mean really need, like a life or death situation, I still have a few million saved in the bank from when I was CEO. You and Jessi saved my life when I got shot so it's nothing."

Kyle couldn't believe that Emily was willing to spend her fortune to help him out if he ever needed it. Of course he couldn't see himself in a situation where he needed that kind of money but the gesture was very touching to him. To think that just a few weeks ago he hated her. "Thank you. That's very generous," he said.

"That offer only applies to you though because I know you would never take advantage of it. If anyone else in your family needs the money they have to get it through you so I know they're not trying to cheat me. I'll keep in touch. Bye."

Kyle put his phone away feeling more down about the future than ever. He'd have to constantly be on his guard from now on. What kind of way was that to live your life? His fear turned to anger. Jessi was right. They would have to train and become as strong as they could so that they would be able to protect themselves, each other, and everyone they cared about. He called Foss up to tell him to start training them again.

"Hello, Kyle?" Foss answered.

Kyle took a deep breath. "Foss, I want to start training again. Me and Jessi both. And we want it to be as hard and grueling as you can make it. We want to become as strong as possible. When can we start?"

There was a long silence as Foss was stunned by what he was hearing. He couldn't understand why Kyle would suddenly want to start training again. "Kyle, if that's what you really want, I have no problem with it," he finally said. "But didn't Adam want you to have this time to be ordinary and enjoy life or something?" he asked.

Kyle felt a stab of regret that he could never have an ordinary life like Adam wanted him to. "I would love to be ordinary, Foss, but I can't risk anymore people kidnapping or hurting the ones I love to get to me. I want to be strong enough to fight back. You told me to get used to the fact that I'll have to use violence in my life because I'll always be under attack because of what I am. Well I've made peace with that. I want to be ready for when they come, Foss. And they will come."

Foss smiled on the other end. "I'm glad you finally realize that. Meet me tomorrow at the warehouse. And bring Declan along too. Since I have to protect both you and Jessi now I could really use his help but he needs a lot more training." He paused for a moment and then added, "When they finally do come for you, they'll have no idea what they're in store for. I'll make sure of that." He hung up. Foss words gave Kyle hope and eased his tension. He knew that Foss had been looking out for him before he even came out of the pod. He was confident that Foss would be able to make him strong. He also knew that Foss would die protecting him, not that Kyle would _ever _let it get to that point.

"Hey, I found another one!" he heard Jessi saying. _I should probably help them _he thought and began walking there. Before he left the kitchen however his phone began vibrating again. He looked at the caller I.D. and was stunned. It was the last person he expected. He immediately answered.

"Hello, Amanda."

"Hey, Kyle. How come you never keep in touch?" she asked pretending to sound a little hurt.

"I'm really sorry, Amanda. It's just that we've been really busy in the last few weeks." He felt really bad for forgetting all about her when he told her that he would give her a call now and then. True, he and Jessi were dating now but that didn't mean they still couldn't talk.

She laughed. "Relax Kyle, I'm just kidding. I know all about it. Congratulations on stopping Cassidy by the way," she said. Kyle was completely taken aback. _How could she know about that?_ he wondered. Lori must have called her and told her all about it. But Amanda then told him the real reason why she knew, "You guys are all over the news!"

Kyle was too stunned to say anything. He just stood there with the phone in his hand thinking of the possible consequences of him and Jessi being exposed. Amanda realized what he was thinking about and quickly said, "Don't worry, I didn't mean you and Jessi were on the news. I'm talking about what you did in Arizona. What you prevented." Kyle let out a sigh of relief.

"So, what did they say?" he asked.

"They said that Cassidy was trying to create clones and sell them to shady people that were going to use them for who knows what," Amanda said cheerfully. "They also said that Madacorp was sponsoring him. And they said that the whole thing was foiled by government agents and Emily Hollander who was working for them the whole time. They also said your mother was killed in a helicopter crash while trying to escape." There was a short silence and then Amanda said, "I'm really sorry about that Kyle."

"She tried to kill me," Kyle told her. Amanda gasped. She knew that Grace was one of the bad guys but she couldn't imagine why anyone would kill their own child. "Grace went down the wrong path," Kyle said. "I'm not saying she deserved to die but I'm not sorry for it either." There was another silence for a few seconds.

"I'm glad that Jessi didn't kill Cassidy," Amanda said. "Even if he deserved it for what he did to her. Tell her I'm proud of her." She knew that Jessi was easily capable of killing Cassidy and she was glad that she had somewhat of an influence in convincing Jessi to not do it.

"Why don't you just tell her yourself?" Kyle asked. "I'll give the phone to her right now."

"Kyle no, don't do that," Amanda said.

Kyle was puzzled. "Why not?" he asked. "You two are friends now aren't you?" Before Amanda left, she and Jessi seemed to be getting along okay. Well, they no longer seemed to hate each other.

"Kyle, no, we're not. When I asked her if we could be friends I meant that we should stop fighting and she knew exactly what I meant. Jessi and I can never really be friends and trust me, Jessi feels the same way," Amanda told him.

Kyle felt really confused. "But, why not?" he asked.

Amanda sighed. Kyle was so naive sometimes. What was she supposed to say? That she still loved him and hated Jessi for stealing him away from her and Jessi was well aware of all this? Back when they were dating, practically everybody but Kyle could see that Jessi was insanely jealous of her and treated her like crap. True, she also treated Jessi like crap but Jessi was the one that tried to screw up their relationship. Amanda would never do that to her and Kyle. But now that Jessi was dating Kyle, she didn't want to say anything bad about her so she said, "Kyle, I have to go. I have a recital in half an hour and I need to practice. Bye," and hung up leaving Kyle feeling more confused than ever. Ever since he came into the Tragers' house he was always trying to study his fellow human beings and find out why they acted like they did. Since then he had learned a lot but apparently he had much more to learn.

"He's in here," he heard the guard saying. He didn't even bother to look who had come to see him. Probably the public defender who could at best lessen his sentence by a few years. He didn't really care. The way he saw it was that there was no difference between getting ten years and eight years or whatever other amount they would give him because in the end, when he finally got out of prison, his future would still be thrown away and his potential wasted.

"Nathanial," he heard somebody calling him. He sighed and turned around while trying to make it obvious to the person that he wasn't in the mood for this right now. He saw a young man, not much older than himself. He expected the public defender to be a little older since law school takes a while to complete. "You're one of the scientists that helped Cassidy, correct?" the man asked him.

"Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be here," he replied.

The man looked down at some papers. "I don't know about that," he said shaking his head. "It says here that you're also here for attempted murder because you and some accomplices were about to shoot five people." He looked back up at Nate and said, "You're looking at a lot of time."

Nate scoffed, "Yeah? And what, you're going to shave a year or two off?"

"Try the whole sentence," the man said. That got Nate's attention. He stared laughing wondering why this guy was messing with him. The man didn't laugh back or even crack a smile. He just stared at Nate with a serious expression. Nate studied his face trying to find any sort of sign that this man was not telling the truth. Neither of them said anything for several seconds until the man finally said, "I'm not joking. I really could erase your sentence."

Nate couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So, you're telling me that even though I tried to kill five guys, if I help you out you'll set me free?" he asked incredulously. "How stupid do you think I am? I don't care how good of a lawyer you are there's no way that's going to happen. And you look like you're barely a year out of law school. Leave me alone, I'm going to sleep," he said turning over again.

"I'm not a lawyer and I didn't say you would be free," the man said. "You'll have to spend the rest of your life working for us. You'll do what we say and you'll keep your mouth shut about it. We'll basically own you. But it would still be a lot better than in here. We'll still pay you and let you leave our facility every now and then, with a guard of course. And you'll be able to pursue a career as a scientist which I know you love."

Nate got up from his bed and stared the man right in the eye. "Okay pal, just who the hell are you?" he demanded.

For the first time the man smiled and extended his hand towards him. "I'm special agent Perez. I think we can both benefit by working together."

**And that's the story. I'm going to write another one to pick up where this left off. Let me know what you thought about this chapter and the whole story in general. You don't have to have a fanfiction account to leave a comment.**


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